Look out for the thousands of volunteers today selling happy heart pins to help save lives

11 May 2018

More than 2,000 volunteers will take to the streets today (Friday 11 May) selling happy heart pins for the Irish Heart Foundation.

Now in its 28^th year, the Irish Heart Foundation’s Happy Hearts Appeal raises vital funds for the charity’s CPR training programmes.

The more people who know CPR, the more lives can be saved. Did you know that 5,000 lives are lost every year in Ireland to sudden cardiac arrest, that is 13 lives lost every day?

Starting CPR can double if not triple a person’s chance of survival and in the event of a collapse from cardiac arrest, every minute is vital.

Without CPR or defibrillation, the chance of survival falls by up to 10 per cent a minute and after just 5 minutes, the person may only have a 50 per cent chance of survival.

Central to the mission of the Irish Heart Foundation is to help save more lives from cardiac arrest through its CPR training programmes. The charity needs to raise more than €350,000 to ensure it can continue to provide vital CPR training in communities across the country.

Mr Tim Collins, CEO of the Irish Heart Foundation, said: “Each year over 5,000 lives are lost due to sudden cardiac arrest, early CPR can double if not triple their chance of survival. 92% of all the funds we receive are from public donations.”

Ms Kate O’Reilly, ‎National Campaigns Manager at the Irish Heart Foundation said: “This year’s appeal target is €350,000, these vital funds ensure that we can continue to provide essential services like our CPR training programmes to every community in Ireland. If a loved one or someone you know goes into a sudden cardiac arrest, you are their main chance of survival. Not a passer-by. You and your hands. CPR saves lives and so do volunteers.”

The Happy Heart Appeal pin, designed by Irish designer Orla Kiely, will be on sale for €3 from Happy Hearts volunteers on streets and in shopping centres across Ireland. People can also donate online.

Please look out for our dedicated army of volunteers today and donate what you can to help save a life. You can also donate online.

If you are one of our brilliant volunteers hitting the streets today, best of luck and thank you.

Please share your images and thoughts from Happy Hearts 2018 on social media using the hashtag #HappyHearts