Six new public defibrillators will be installed along Denmark’s coast in memory of beloved Fremantle father of two, Andy Rutherford, who died of cardiac arrest last year.

Andy, 48, collapsed at Elephant Rocks in April last year and despite the best efforts of his first aid-trained mates who performed CPR, the use of a community defibrillator and the speedy response of volunteers from the SJWA Denmark Sub Centre, he couldn’t be saved.

In tribute to Andy, South Beach Boardies owner Kirsten Lopez created board shorts with help from Andy’s wife Renae and two sons, Maxton, 11, and Fraser, 7.

They donated profits from the sales to increasing St John WA’s defibrillator network in Denmark.

The colourful ‘Djiti-djitis for Defibrillators’ boardies combined Andy’s love of Djiti-djitis (‘willy wagtails in Noongar) and brightly-coloured surf shorts. Andy’s family were reunited with some of the SJWA volunteers who were by his side in his final moments on June 24, for the installation of the first defibrillators and to unveil a tribute plaque in his memory at Lights Beach.  

Shorts fund safety initiative

Andy’s family were reunited with some of the SJWA volunteers who were by his side in his final moments on June 24, for the installation of the first defibrillators and to unveil a tribute plaque in his memory at Lights Beach.

SJWA has 3000 registered 24/7 publicly accessible defibrillators available to the WA community, more than 340 in the Great Southern.

They form the SJWA Community First Responder Network, established in 2011, a free service which aims to get defibrillators to cardiac arrest victims in the vital minutes before an ambulance arrives.

With assistance from the Shire of Denmark, two defibrillators have already been installed at Lights Beach and Madfish Bay, with four more earmarked for popular locations along the coast.

The life-saving first aid devices are located alongside Beach Emergency Number signs, the coding system used by emergency services to identify beach access points and improve response times.

Renae extended her gratitude to Kirsten and her partner Tim for spearheading the initiative. “We can’t thank South Beach Boardies enough for the gift that all of this entails, and creating such a beautiful way to honour Andy,” Renae said.

“The boys love seeing people wearing the Djiti-djiti boardies, especially people we don’t know.

“I believe it has also helped them navigate such a traumatic part of their life – being involved in something so incredibly generous and positive has been really valuable.”

Renae once again thanked SJWA Denmark volunteers and offered special thanks to everyone who had purchased the shorts.

This article appeared in the  Denmark Bulletin, 11 July 2024.