Tom Lockyer hails nation's response to Sky Bet-British Heart Foundation campaign Every Minute Matters after record-breaking start as 23,000 people sign up for life-saving CPR training

Tom Lockyer has hailed the nation's response to the 'Every Minute Matters' campaign, which seeks to educate people on potentially life-saving CPR training. 

Luton Town captain Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest back in December during a game, having already suffered an atrial flutter in the Championship play-off final the summer before. 

The Wales international's life was saved by the use of CPR and defibrillation in December, and he has since been fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator device following five days in hospital. 

Lockyer is part of a group of former and current football stars fronting the 'Every Minute Matters' campaign with the aim of recruiting 270,000 people to learn CPR in just 12 months, equipping more and more people with the skills to potentially save somebody's life. 

The Sky Bet-British Heart Foundation campaign launched on May 1, and has seen some 23,000 people step up to learn the skills - a staggering 458 per cent increase on the previous month - and Lockyer was quick to praise the 'transformational' progress already made. 

'The response we've seen to the 'Every Minute Matters' campaign is nothing short of transformational,' the campaign ambassador said. 

'The numbers speak for themselves, in just seven days we've inspired thousands of people to go online and start learning CPR – that's thousands of people who could one day go on to save a life.'

'If I've learned anything in the last 12 months, it's that it's impossible to overstate the importance of learning CPR – I simply wouldn't be here if the people around me hadn't acted promptly to administer CPR and defibrillation when I collapsed.'

Sky Bet have so far raised £150,000 to support the BHF's work, with £10,000 pledged per goal in the opening round of the EFL play-offs.  

'Using the Play-Offs to drive awareness is just the beginning,' Lockyer continued. 'We want over a quarter of a million people to learn this life saving skill over the course of the next 12 months.'

Sky Bet hopes to raise as much as £3million in support of the BHF over the course of the campaign, and the BHF's website in fact received a record number of interactions on May 2, the day after the campaign's launch. 

Lockyer is joined by a raft of fellow football stars including Graeme Souness, David Ginola and Glenn Hoddle, in the campaign as part of a 'Re-starting XI' - a one-off team including Fabrice Muamba, Derby County defender Megan Tinsley and Wigan Athletic striker Charlie Wyke.

The all-star team of former and current professional players have all shared stories following their scary experiences with their own heart conditions – and now want to give the nation the skills to save lives if they ever find themselves in the middle of a medical emergency.

The 'Re-Starting 11' also features football fans who have either survived a cardiac arrest or have saved someone's life.

Souness, who was diagnosed with coronary heart disease in his 30s, said: 'When it comes to cardiac arrest every minute really does matter. If someone collapses you can't hesitate, you need to take immediate action. That's where CPR training comes in, it gives you the skills and confidence to take action when it matters most.

'The fact that so many people have already registered to learn CPR in little under a week says it all. People want to make a difference. Our job is to get the word out and turn 20,000 people into an army of over a quarter of a million lifesavers.'

British Heart Foundation chief executive Dr Charmaine Griffiths said: 'Our partnership with Sky Bet has the clear goal of saving lives – and it’s fantastic that nearly 23,000 people have used RevivR to begin learning lifesaving skills just one week since we’ve launched.

'Every minute matters when someone has a cardiac arrest, and being able to step in and perform CPR could be the difference between life and death. That’s why along with Sky Bet we’re urging everyone to take 15 minutes – the length of a half-time interval – to learn this skill through RevivR.'

Lockyer's heart stopped for more than two and a half minutes during a game at Bournemouth in December, seven months after he collapsed at Wembley in the Championship play-off final victory over Coventry.

He is still yet to be told whether or not he can return to his career as an elite professional footballer, although he told Mail Sport that he was 'at peace' with being told he must hang up his boots.  

'A decision over whether I play again or not is further down the line. But, at any stage, the cardiologist could say you can't play again', Lockyer told Mail Sport.

'I am at peace with that though if that is to happen. I'd just look at it as a positive that I am still here, not that I can't play again.

'A decision is out of my hands. I would love to play again, I've made no secret in saying that but it would have to be done safely.

'I feel safer than I've ever felt before. I've got a defibrillator in my side. Ultimately the decision is not with me.

'I'm incredibly fortunate to have had a 10-year career that saw me play in every league, non-League, to the Premier League and scored in every one. I've got 14 caps for Wales too. It's more than I ever thought.' 

Souness also bravely opened up on the effects his heart condition had on him, revealing how he found it difficult to process discovering he was suffering from coronary heart disease before having open heart surgery just days later.

'When you're young you think you're invincible,' Souness told Mail Sport. 'I lived the life of a professional footballer and most of the time I ate well, exercised vigorously. I wasn't a big drinker of alcohol.

'So when it happened to me it was like being punched on the nose. I was diagnosed on the Thursday and when I got off the table I said: "when can you do [my operation]" and they [performed surgery] on the Tuesday.

'When you come out of hospital, you're fearful. And I'm happy to say this, I would get emotional for no reason at all. And that is not me. I would have tears running down my eyes three or four times when I eventually came out of hospital.'

'It's a traumatic thing,' Souness added. 'It took me maybe the best part of a year to get over it. You know you're cleaning your teeth, and you can't help but glance down to your chest and you see not a terribly attractive scar there. 

'It's a little reminder all the time that no one is invincible - I was 38 at the time thinking, "this shouldn't happen to me" but it did. The fact it happened to me, given the lifestyle I had, having been a professional athlete, it can happen to anyone.' 

There are more than 30,000 out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in the UK each year, equating to at least five every 90 minutes. Each minute that passes without CPR reduces the chance of survival by up to 10 per cent.

And tragically, less than one in 10 people survive often because those around them lack the skills or confidence to perform CPR.

Every Minute Matters will urge everyone to take just 15 minutes to learn CPR with RevivR, the British Heart Foundation's free digital tool.