First defibrillator as part of national roll-out placed in Oliver King's school in Liverpool

• Video report by ITV Granada Reports journalist, Tim Scott.

The first defibrillator as part of a government roll-out to ensure there is one in every state school, has been installed in Liverpool.

It comes after a decade-long campaign led by Mark King, whose 12-year-old son Oliver suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while competing in a swimming race in Liverpool in 2011.

Oliver had an unknown but treatable condition called Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS), which kills 12 people each week.

Mark, who set up the Oliver King Foundation in memory of his son, has been working with former Liverpool and England footballer Jamie Carragher to campaign for mandatory defibrillators in all schools.

Research shows that accessing a defibrillator within three to five minutes of a cardiac arrest increases the chance of survival by over 40%.

Mark was joined by Carragher at Oliver's school King David High in Liverpool on Friday, 20 January, to install the first defibrillator of the roll-out.

Since meeting Mark, the Government has worked with charities such as the British Heart Foundation to identify the scale of need across schools in England.

State-funded schools have been surveyed to assess the number of devices needed to ensure all have access, with the figure estimated at more than 20,000 in total.

• Former England footballer Jamie Carragher explains why he got involved with Mark King's life-saving campaign.

Mark's life-saving campaign had the backing from several football legends including Sir Kenny Dalglish, Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher, Raheem Sterling and Jordan Henderson.

They all signed a letter to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and MPs, calling for defibrillators to be mandatory at schools and sports clubs.

Former England star Carragher said: "I wanted to get involved to help other kids in this country who have tragically lost their lives because there wasn't a defibrillator on-site.

"His son is not forgotten. He has helped a lot of other kids up and down this country and it's been a long fight for him.

"It's taken too long for the Government to pass this through - but we're here today."

The Government said that many schools would already have defibrillators on-site, but that the programme would work to "plug the gaps" and ensure that all state schools had at least one device.

The equipment could also be used by any outside sports teams using school facilities.

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