Tom Lockyer joins Luton Town fans on 4,000km relay for CPR awareness

Tom Lockyer, who suffered an on-pitch cardiac arrest, cheered on the fans who cycled 24km between Luton Town and Stevenage F.C.’s football grounds as part of the Sky Bet EFL Every Minute Matters Relay.

The 4,000-kilometer charity relay, which started on March 35, is four weeks of non-stop running, cycling and walking – all ending in Wembley on April 21.

Sky Bet and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) are calling on Luton Town supporters to get behind the challenge – by donating time not money and using just 15 minutes to learn CPR through BHF’s free online tool, RevivR.

Supporters from each of the EFL clubs have teamed up with former footballers and celebrity fans – including Tom – to either run, walk or cycle each leg.

The Luton Town captain has been showing his support for Sam Ewington, a mother whose son, Cade, suffered a cardiac arrest in June 2016 and had his life saved by CPR. Her son made a full recovery and had an ICD fitted – the same device that his hero Tom Lockyer has.

Tom said: “It’s so important for people to learn CPR and this campaign is one that I’ve thrown myself into, for obvious reasons.

“I always say to people, imagine someone you loved needing CPR, but you hadn’t taken 15 minutes out of your life to learn CPR. “Without those people who were there for me, I wouldn’t be here. I was incredibly lucky it happened while I was in a football stadium where people were on hand who knew exactly what to do.

“We need to get as many people learning CPR as possible. There is a severe lack of defibs in the community. Even if there is one, there is still a period where you need to keep someone alive before they come back with the defib, so we still need people to learn CPR to be potential lifesavers.”

Luton fan Sam Ewington said: “If it wasn’t for the lifesaving skill of CPR my son Cade simply wouldn’t be here. Tom is Cade’s hero and it means so much to him that he’s also here today cheering us on and raising awareness of something so close to our family. Both Tom and Cade show exactly why it’s so important we get as many people trained to learn CPR as possible and taking just 15 minutes out of your day to learn this skill could lead to more lives being saved.”

The Sky Bet EFL relay comes almost a year after Sky Bet teamed up with the British Heart Foundation with the goal of getting a 270,000 to learn CPR by the end of the 2024-2025 football season – equivalent to three Wembley Stadiums.

The campaign smashed that target with almost two months to go and are hoping to reach 360,000 by the 24/25 Sky Bet EFL play-offs in May.