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Raising Awareness and Empowering Change with Ben Culff

Raising Awareness and Empowering Change with Ben Culff

January 16, 2024

Ben’s life took an unexpected turn at the age of 17, when he collapsed during a routine shift. Now, having survived a sudden cardiac arrest, Ben champions awareness, emphasising it can strike anyone, anywhere, anytime. As an ambassador for CellAED®, Ben has partnered with us to spread the word about the world’s first personal AED, so that more people can be prepared for the unexpected.


What’s your story?

About 6 years ago, when I was working a normal shift at my part-time job, I just collapsed. I was 17 years old, going to the gym a lot, playing lots of sports, and focusing on my A levels. Just before it happened, my heart started “pinging” and I knew something was wrong. After struggling for a bit, there was just … nothingness. That's how quickly it can happen and how dangerous this situation is because it literally takes a split second for it to all turn on its head. Read Ben’s full story here.


What happened next?

I am one of the lucky ones. After spending 24 hours in a coma, 2 days in ICU, and another 8 days recovering, I was discharged from hospital. It was clear that after the event I was very healthy. In some ways, it was more traumatic for my family than what I experienced because I don't remember it. For me, I just wanted to show my family that I was ok, that I could still do all the all the things a normal 17-year-old could do. I'm very lucky to be able to live my life in a totally normal way.


What’s your mission?

My main goal is to get rid of the misconception that sudden cardiac arrest can only happen to the elderly or people that are already unwell. Cardiac arrests are most often caused by an electrical issue. And that electrical issue can come from a number of reasons, which might be due to a deep-rooted issue inside you like it was for me, which was only detected because they started specifically looking for it.

The goal for me is to make sure that as many people as possible understand that sudden cardiac arrest can happen to anyone, anywhere, at any time. It isn't a specific thing that happens in a very specific situation, and although that's scary, the better prepared you are, the more likely a person will survive.


What needs to be done?

On an organisational level, it goes back to the government's willingness to do something about this. In the UK, cardiac arrest kills more people than the top three cancers combined. And so, where cancer gets its rightful attention, we don’t see much attention given to sudden cardiac arrest or the organisations championing its cause. It’s up to the government to put in the time, effort, and the money to get more defibrillators where they are needed most, but it is also our responsibility as individuals to step-up.

On an individual level, learn CPR and get some defibrillator training. There are many [first aid] organisations that teach CPR. There are also online videos that are being made by first aid organisations that can be very helpful. Then, just be willing to go out there. Go one step further and purchase yourself an AED to help your family and the people in your local area be prepared and confident to respond in the event of witnessing a sudden cardiac arrest. CellAED® is perfect for that.


Why partner with CellAED®?

CellAED® addresses many of the barriers to public access AED use. Sadly, cost is one of the main contributing factors, I believe, to people not having defibrillators. A device like CellAED® means defibrillators are more affordable for personal ownership. And because they are more affordable, they are more accessible. CellAED® is changing the AED landscape from public to personal AED access.

My hope is that people see my story and adopt a CellAED® because they can see how they can play a part in this cause. It could be a parent watching their child at a football game having a CellAED® in their backpack that could help save a life that day. Just having a CellAED® on you or in your car, like I do, can make that big difference.

I'm prepared if I find anyone in a cardiac arrest situation. With my CellAED® on me I can be their life saving factor, that they wouldn't have without CellAED®.

I want to see this technology go into the future and keep adapting and improving, so that one day no one needs to rely on luck. They can just expect that a CellAED® will be within a close radius of them and they'll get the help that they need in a quick and timely manner.


Welcome Ben!

We’re honoured to welcome Ben as an ambassador for CellAED®. Together, we’re committed to our shared mission: saving lives from sudden cardiac arrest around the world.