Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has been praised as the 'missing jigsaw piece' after helping The Oliver King Foundation secure major government legislation change on defibrillators.
Carragher joined forces with The OK Foundation after a defibrillator saved the life of his friend in a gym in Kirkdale.
The Sky Sports pundit was inspired to become a driving force of the campaign, meeting with Secretary of State for Education, Nadhim Zahawi, and ordering him to 'come up with a plan... to save lives."
The OK Foundation - launched by Mark and Joanne King in 2012 following the sudden death of their 12-year-old son Oliver - this year won their decade-long fight for access to defibrillators to be mandatory in every school in the UK.
Oliver tragically died during a school swimming race from Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS), a hidden heart condition which kills between 12-19 young people each week.
The OK Foundation began campaigning for a change in legislation, with Mark personally hand-delivering 6,000 life-saving defibrillators to schools and organisations across the country.
In March 2022, the British government finally committed to installing defibrillators in every school in the UK.
Mark King told the new edition of YM Liverpool: "I'm a massive Evertonian but Jamie is one of us! We met when The OK Foundation placed a defibrillator in a gym in Kirkdale and it ended up saving the life of one of Jamie's friends.
"Jamie come on board, and he was the missing jigsaw piece. He has been absolutely fantastic. He has been to London with us countless times, and he brings Euston to a stand-still!
"People want photos, selfies, autographs, and he is great with everyone.
"Eventually, when Nadhim Zahawi become Secretary of State for Education, the team at ThisGeneration Communications, who also organised a national media day, featuring our story on BBC and Sky, helped arrange a meeting, and we took Jamie with us.
"Jamie sat down and said, 'Nadhim, you're going to talk to Mark and come up with a plan on how we are going to do to save lives.' We were there for 30 minutes and Nadhim couldn't believe this issue hadn't been legislated before.
"Zahawi eventually become Chancellor, and was a driving force in not only setting the legislation, but making sure government paid for the defibrillators to be installed in schools.
"I felt very lucky when this happened, but it happens because we are out there working for it."
At time of writing, The Oliver King Foundation are aware of more than 60 lives saved thanks to their defibrillators.
