‘A GIFT’ has been provided to Kenilworth town in memory of a good Samaritan.
Sam Chrimes’ late wife Anne was determined to provide the town with a defibrillator after noticing a shortage.
The 65-year-old, who died in February from bone marrow cancer, was well-known for her charitable work and even suggested the couple pay for the life-saving equipment themselves.
Sam told the Observer: “During last year, whilst we were away for a few days, we noticed that the towns and villages we went to were better equipped with defibrillators.
“On our return Anne made a point of finding out where in Kenilworth they were located and she was appalled with the result. She said to me then that we should do something about it, in her words, ‘even if we have to buy one ourselves’. I must have been quite shocked at that and she said, in the very old fashioned way she sometimes spoke, ‘Sam, we have a responsibility to ensure the safety of our fellow citizens’.”
Anne, a former admin assistant at Kenilworth School, grew up in Coventry and moved to the town aged 18 to train as a youth worker.
She volunteered for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and was a keen blood donor, having donated more than 100 pints.
Anne fell ill in October during the poppy appeal fund-raiser the couple organised together – which raised some £28,600 for the British National Legion.
It was during this time Anne, who had told her husband ‘you never know when you might need it’, had 15 blood transfusions herself.
Following her death, the 68-year-old contacted charity Kenilworth Heartsafe with an offer to donate the town a defibrillator in Anne’s memory.
The defibrillator has been installed on the corner of Randall Road in the town centre alongside a memorial plaque to commemorate Anne.
Sam added: “Oddly, I suppose, the defibrillator would not have been of any benefit to Anne, who was taken by Multiple Myeloma. Anne’s thoughts were always on others and she was keen to do her best for our local community. There will be lots and lots of people who knew Anne or at the very least had seen her bustling about on some mission or another.”
Visit warwickshirehearts.org for more information on lifesaving parent charity of Kenilworth Heartsafe.
