A RADCLIFFE snooker club has ensured its members and those in the nearby community have access to a life saving defibrillator after a member suffered a near fatal heart attack.

Radcliffe Central Snooker Club has installed the defibrillator and offered public training on using the device after Ray Hobman, aged 80, from Bury, suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed during a match at the club last September.

Fortunately another club member Karl Greaves was first aid trained and immediately gave Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) for 30 minutes before the emergency services arrived.

Mr Hobman's heart stopped beating twice before fire and ambulance crews arrived, and once again in the ambulance on the way to hospital, but thanks to the actions of Mr Greaves and paramedics Mr Hobman has gone on to make a full recovery.

The incident prompted the club to fundraise to purchase a defibrillator, to ensure that something similar will not happen again.

Tracey Morley, manager Radcliffe Central Snooker Club, said: "If Karl hadn't have been there Ray would have died. So that was the whole inspiration for the campaign.

"If the club had a defibrillator it would have been a lot more beneficial for Ray.

"We do have a lot of older members in the club, and if anyone had a heart attack and Karl wasn't there we wouldn't have been able anyone to give resuscitation to our members."

The club's management organised a special evening at the hall in Abden Road with prizes donated by local venues and businesses, raising £600.

Staff then sought out a supplier for the defibrillator but were dismayed to find out that the £600 alone would not be enough.

After trying for support at various sources the club decided to call Bolton Wanderers to see if they could get help from the Club Community Trust.

Tony Jones, administrator at Radcliffe Central Snooker Club, said: "We tried all over the place and no one was responding so I had the idea to go to the Wanderers Community Trust.

"They were superb and they bridged the gap because the defibrillator was a lot more than the £600 we raised."

The Trust agreed to make up the shortfall, purchasing the machine, as well as offering to install and provide training to use the defibrillator.

A public training session was then held at the club on February 16, and the Trust has said that they will also put on refresher courses for anyone who wants training.

Mrs Morley said: "The session was really really informative. I now know I'm very confident if something happens.

"The defibrillator is a very clever piece of machinery and it has proven really beneficial to help members of the community.

"All our members of staff are now trained so that there's always going to be a first aider on site.

"And if something happens in the local area people know we have a defibrillator and we will be able to give CPR and use the defibrillator until and ambulance can come.

"The management would like to sincerely thank everyone involved in the effort to get the to this stage, not just Bolton Wanderers Football Club, snooker club staff and members, and hope a very useful piece of kit will help, if ever such an event occurs again — within the snooker club or locally."