A MOTHER whose five-year-old daughter died suddenly of heart failure was called on to help an elderly woman when she collapsed in the middle of Wokingham and went into cardiac arrest.

Claire Page was astonished, though, when her attempts to discover the location of the nearest defibrillator were met with ignorance.

No-one she approached knew that the potentially life-saving equipment was less than 100 metres away.

Miss Page had spotted the woman in distress while she was shopping in Wokingham with a friend on October 2.

She said: "I walked out of New Look and an elderly lady was on the floor.

"An ambulance was called, but that was diverted.

"The lady then started having a seizure and that turned into a cardiac arrest.

"I went to run for a defibrillator, but no-one I asked knew where they were.

"The amount of people who looked at me and my friend like we were silly looking for a defibrillator was scary, especially considering all the PR that has gone on in the last year."

The nearest defibrillator to New Look's Market Place store was in the Total Logistics office in Broad Street.

Karen Lisly rushed out of Total Logistics with the equipment and gave it to Ms Page after hearing the commotion.

But the elderly woman was successfully resuscitated by those around her without the need to use the defibrillator.

An ambulance then arrived and took the woman to hospital.

Ms Page, whose daughter collapsed and died of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome when she was being collected from school in May 2014, believes it is vital that the public have a better understanding of defibrillators.

And now she is campaigning for more to be done to ensure people know exactly where the potentially life-saving equipment can be found.

South Central Ambulance Trust has an app, available on both android and apple phones, called AED Locator UK, that pinpoints the locations of defibrillators across Berkshire.

The  device at the Total Logistics office is one of nine within a mile of Wokingham town hall.

Ms Page said: "We need to get as many people as possible aware that defibrillators are nearby. Every minute can make a difference."

She is also working with the Arrythmia Alliance to have defibrillators installed at every school in Wokingham borough.

The campaign to make defibrillators more accessible gained momentum after former Bolton Wanderers midfielder Fabrice Muamba suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch in a match against Tottenham at White Hart Lane in March 2012.

He was resuscitated and made a miraculous recovery partly thanks to numerous defibrillator shocks on the pitch and in an ambulance as he was rushed to hospital.