Pair who raised £1million for good causes send defib to King after palace honour

26 October 2023 , 18:25

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Sergio and Emma Petrucci with their honours (Image: Getty Images)

Two fundraisers awarded MBEs by the King are sending a defibrillator to Buckingham Palace.

Sergio and Emma Petrucci have pulled in more than £1million through their Red Sky Foundation charity, launched after daughter Luna, 10, had life-saving heart surgery. The pair have supported the Mirror’s campaign to have ­defibrillators in all public places and our Change the Law for Life fight on organ donation.

Sergio and Emma took Luna and son Enzo, 14, to the awards ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. Japanese ­tourists thought their boy was a Prince. After his chat with the King, Sergio said he would give a Red Sky defib to the Palace, which has a medical team at all honours ­ceremonies in case of ­emergencies. The couple joked that Camilla “could carry one in her handbag”.

Sergio, 47, added: “King Charles was giving us these awards and we wanted to give him something back. It was a lovely, lovely occasion. We were only supposed to talk to him briefly but we chatted for five minutes.” Sergio, of Sunderland, also took his parents Agostino and Janis while 41-year-old Emma’s dad Garry and mum Carole went along, too.

Pair receive their MBEs from the King (PA)

The Red Sky charity raises funds for the Children’s Heart Unit at ­Newcastle’s Freeman Hospital and NHS hospitals. It also provides defibrillators for schools and public spaces around the country, including 100 worth more than £100,000 to grassroots sports. Sergio and Emma fund an ice cream van to give free treats to families at the Freeman, where Mirror campaigner Max Johnson had his heart transplant.

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They also supply fruit and veg to the Sick ­Children’s Trust, which provides ­accommodation for patients’ families. The pair praised our campaign to change the law on organ donation to an “opt out” policy, meaning everyone is deemed a donor when they die unless they have stated otherwise.

Sergio said: “The Mirror has done so much to raise awareness. We want to say thank you from all the heart families. That’s all we ever wanted to do, to give back and say thank you to the teams that fixed our little girl’s heart.”

Jeremy Armstrong