Plea for missing defibrillator to be returned

A defibrillator in "the defibrillator capital of the UK" has gone missing, prompting an urgent plea for its return.

It was Clare Seed, co-founder of the Public Hearts Cheltenham Defibrillator Campaign, who bestowed the title upon Cheltenham, which has more than 100 of the live-saving devices as a result of the campaign's efforts.

But Seed is now calling for defibrillator number 54, which is kept at Fioro Lounge on Bath Road, to be returned after it was used last month.

Defibrillator number 98, which is located on Addis Road, was also missing, but has since been returned.

Defibrillators are used - alongside resuscitation or CPR - to give the best chance of survival during a cardiac arrest. They give an electric charge or current to the heart to try and restore a normal heartbeat.

The Fioro Lounge device, which is "lime yellow green in deluxe black carry case", Seed said, was accessed on 14 December 2025 at 10:20 GMT and has not been seen since.

"The ambulance was in attendance. South Western Ambulance Service don't know where it is either," she added.

"We've already had a busy start to the new year, with three accessed already, so let's get these back in service and in their rightful locations."

Seed added the Addis Road defibrillator was "a very luck defib" as it had helped someone who had a severe medical emergency in September.

She said the best way of returning the device was by calling Tidal Training Direct.

The company, which provides first aid training, set up Public Hearts in 2018 after learners asked where the nearest defibrillator was and they realised there were none in Cheltenham that were accessible to the public.

Almost 70% of Public Hearts' defibrillators have been accessed 209 times in the past 12 months, and three were donated to Ukraine.

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