Aberdeen medic with family history of cardiac issues aims to equip city with defibrillators
Lee Findlay's Aberdeen Defibrillator Project aims to provide defibrillators to public spaces around the city.
An Aberdeen medic with a family history of cardiac issues has made it his mission to equip the city with defibrillators.
Lee Findlay has 24 years of experience working in healthcare and currently works as a senior auxiliary nurse in acute medicine at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary.
The 40-year-old launched the Aberdeen Defibrillator Project in October 2024 - a cause that looks to provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to public spaces around the city.
He explained to Aberdeen Live that his passion for the project stems from his experience providing chest compressions during his job.
He said: "I hurt my back doing CPR duing an incident I responded to and had to stop for a time. When there were AEDs available, I was still in a position to contribute to emergency incidents.
"Defibrillators are the very top of any emergency equipment you can have. With the current strain on services, I want to put more AEDs out there so they're readily available to the public."
As a result of Lee's tireless fundraising, he has been able to provide the defibrillators to areas where they are most needed, including outside bars and pubs.
However, he is now looking to fund child-suitable AEDs to go outside areas where they would be most useful, including parks, the beach and the nearby Codona's amusement park.
He said: "I distributed the money I raised for the bars, clubs, and other areas they'd be needed.
"Codona's has chipped in for the heated box outside. With the amount of children on the beach, and the coming summer months, and the amount of people at parks, an AED with paediatric settings would be most beneficial.
"Other defibrillators have been placed in areas that ambulances struggle to get to quickly because of roadworks or heavy traffic, like on Market Street."
Explaining the physical challenges of doing manual labour, Lee said: " Recently, I was called to a cardiac arrest and I had to go into compressions, which are extremely taxing to do. After that, so much needed to be done.
"And since starting in November, I have heard story after story after story of people who had lost loved ones, but if there had been AED, they would have survived."
But the fundraiser is also personal for Lee, whose father suffered a cardiac arrest in 2015 and whose granny also received coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). Recently, he was also diagnosed with a cardiac condition.
He said: "Father had massive heart attack and I was recently diagnosed with a condition because of my family's cardiac history. It's something that is close to my heart."
To donate to the Aberdeen Defibrillator Project, visit the GoFundMe page here - https://gofund.me/4f1923e1.
Current defibrillator locations include; The Snuggery, The Old King's Way, Paramount, Molly Malones, Siberia Bar, Old School House, Foundry, O'Donoghues, The Grey's Inn and Codona's.
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