TWO trainee emergency care technicians from the North East Ambulance Service are raising money for a charity close to their hearts by doing a zip wire from the Tyne Bridge.

Luke Hopper and Stacey Fox will take to the air in Newcastle on Sunday, April 17, to raise money for North East Hearts with Goals, which places lifesaving defibrillators into communities across the region.

The pair work with emergency care colleagues from Pallion Station and Ryhope Station in Sunderland, clocking up around 24,000 miles every year to respond to hundreds of patients who need their help.

They hoping to raise £777, the price of one defibrillator, through the challenge.

Stacey, 28, of South Shields, has worked for the service for three years, having previously worked as a care worker.

She said: “My dad has an extensive cardiac history, having had seven heart attacks and a cardiac arrest. Because of my dad, everywhere I go, I want there to be one available."

Luke, 23, of Fulwell, has worked for the service for seven years in total, four years of which he spent in Control, dispatching ambulances before going on the road as an Emergency Care Assistant and progressing onto the Emergency Care Technician course.

He said: “We respond to cardiac arrests all the time and know that every second without a defibrillation in certain cardiac arrests will reduce a patient’s chance of survival. It’s something we feel strongly about.

“We have to jump off from the top of the Tyne Bridge and zip wire all the way down to the Baltic. I don’t like heights so I’m pretty nervous but it’s for a great cause.”

To support Luke and Stacey in their fund-raising visit: http://www.goldengiving.com/fundraising/staceyandlukezipwire,