A MOTHER has written to Parliament calling for more defibrillators in Darwen following the sudden death of her son last year.

Laura Partington, 34, lost her 11-year-old son Kevin Burnett, who suffered from brittle asthma, in September after he collapsed while trying on his PE kit.

MORE TOP STORIES:

Miss Partington, of Maria Street, battled trying to revive her son on the day he passed away.

Since his death she has become increasingly concerned about the lack of defibrillators in the town and the lack of awareness residents have about the ones which are there.

She took the decision to write to the House of Commons to ask if the location of the life-saving machines can be made more obvious and if more defibrillators could be provided.

She said: “I explained Kevin had passed away and that I could have done with a defibrillator but there was none to my knowledge in my area.

“We started doing a fundraiser and found out there is actually a defibrillator hidden on a side wall at the town hall but the problem is nobody is aware it’s there as there are no signs to indicate that these life saving machines are around.

“I would like it to be known where they are by a yellow sign with a postcode on. People say you need training to use one but you really don’t, it’s self-explanatory, we just need to know where they are and have plenty of them around.”

The North West Ambulance Service has said there were a number of registered defibs in Darwen currently, but they were unable to say exactly how many as some may not have been registered with them.

Miss Partington has been raising money through a number of events for a community defibrillator with the Rotary Kids from St Barnabas CE Primary School, where Kevin attended before moving on to Darwen Aldridge Community Academy.

Pupils at St Barnabas styled wacky hair-dos last month and took part in a Zumbathon as part of the effort to raise £2,000 for the cause.There will also be a Defib Disco at Hollins Grove Conservative Club on Friday, July 15, for adults only, with a variety of raffle prizes including a signed Blackburn Rovers shirt. This will be £5 per adult including supper.