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Our Save a Life in Schools campaign to put defibrillators in every Hampshire school has been nominated for the Making a Difference award as part of Local Newspaper Week, which starts on Monday.

Several campaigns from across the country are shortlisted, with the public encouraged to vote for the one they think has made the biggest impact.

The vote comes days after grandad Brian Marshall’s life was saved by a defibrillator at Asda supermarket in Totton.

As reported by the Daily Echo, shoppers Lance Corporal Harry Pickering and firefighter Stuart Godwin successfully restarted Mr Marshall’s heart using the store’s life-saving equipment, installed just months ago.

Daily Echo:

Mr Marshall's family thank Lance Corporal Harry Pickering at Asda

Mr Marshall, 57, from Haltons Close, Calmore, said he was 100 per cent behind the Echo campaign and would be voting for it to win.

He said: “These two men are always going to be a big part of my life and without the defibrillator I would not be sitting here talking today. I think they should be everywhere.

“It’s a funny story but on the day it happened I went to Botley scrapyard with my son and driving through Botley I noticed the big green defibrillator they have at the Town Hall.

"It’s big, it’s green and it’s there to be seen. It’s there to save someone and a defibrillator certainly saved me.”

Mr Marshall has been told that he needs a heart bypass but hopes to take part in a 10k or half-marathon race when he has recovered to raise money to provide another defibrillator.

The Save a Life in Schools campaign was launched in March 2014 after 16-year-old schoolboy Sam Mangoro’s life was saved by a defibrillator after he suffered a heart attack during a PE lesson at Mountbatten School in Romsey.

Since then dozens of schools have installed defibrillators to ensure that they are prepared for similar incidents, with many citing the Echo campaign as the reason.

  • Voting for the Making a Difference award begins on Monday and the winner will be announced at the Society of Editors Regional Press Awards on May 15.