A DAD-OF-TWO who suffered two cardiac arrests after a session in the gym has launched a fundraising campaign to get a public defibrillator installed.

Andy Counsell, 49, had just finished a cycling workout at Body One Fitness Centre in Great Harwood when his heart stopped on the morning of Monday, August 6.

Mr Counsell said: “I have no recollection of the next hour and only know what had happened from my wife Marion who witnessed everything.”

During that time, he went on to have another cardiac arrest.

But after undergoing stent surgery at Blackpool Victoria Hospital to get rid of the blockage that had caused his cardiac arrest and to keep his arteries open, Mr Counsell managed to pull through and live to tell his story.

Mr Counsell, who has two children, Dominic, 27 and Robyn, 19, is now appealing for funds for to help get a Public Access Defibrillator (PAD) to be installed at Body One in Deveron Mill.

Great Harwood charity Philip Maher Foundation, set up by Stuart Maher in 2015 after his father Phillip Maher died age 62 after collapsing during a football match, will also help Mr Counsell get the defibrillator.

Mr Counsell, who works as a test engineer at Siemens Rail Automation and lost his dad Anthony Counsell to a heart attack less than 200 yards away from Body One last year, said : “For me the need is obvious, the location is several hundred yards from the nearest PAD in the town centre, there are many small local businesses immediately local to the gym and just across the road are the local allotments that are predominantly used by the elderly.

“It will help to save lives.“

Aiming to raise £2,000 for a defibrillator, £1,890 has already been raised towards that target.

Any excess funds raised will be split in half towards the Phil Maher Foundation and the British Heart Foundation.

To donate to Mr Counsell, visit his fundraising page https://www.gofundme.com/counspublicaccessdefibrillator