AN ANONYMOUS donor has almost single-handedly funded the purchase of a defibrillator for a Winsford scuba diving school.

The lifesaving devices are used when a person goes into cardiac arrest, shocking their chest to regulate the heartbeat.

Duttons Divers owner Clare Dutton set up a JustGiving page to raise £800 in the hopes the school could buy a defibrillator to take to each dive site they visit.

A donor, who identified himself only as Mike, gave £100 on July 22 before adding the remaining £700 later that same day.

Clare, who also works with the fire service, said on her JustGiving page: “I plan to make this defibrillator available to all divers at the dive site, wherever we are.

“We always have a dive marshall who will always have the keys, meaning not only will we protect our own divers, but all those in our fellow dive community.”

She added: “I was amazed that an anonymous person donated all of the money to purchase one.

“I would like to publicly say thank you to this person on behalf of all those that dive and work with us.

“In order to show our appreciation, we would like to inform people that we are currently offering 50 per cent off CPR and AED training in order to try and get more people trained in these lifesaving skills.”

Clare explained that, while CPR is effective at keeping a person’s heart beating, it is not enough to restart a heart once it stops and a defibrillator is needed.

The device will be kept locked in a trailer, which the school will take to each dive site they visit.

Visit duttonsdivers.com or email duttonsdivers@gmail.com to book. The PADI scuba training school work out of various locations, including Winsford.