A CROSSGATES woman who suffered a heart attack is fighting back by raising money for life-saving defibrillators for her community.

Aileen Todd, 72, of Codden Court, has raised more than £2,000, which will be donated to Crossgates Community Council.

She hopes the funds will be enough to buy two defibrillators for the village.

She told the Press: "I had a heart attack in December 2018 and just after that happened I thought, 'Why don't I raise money for a defibrillator?'

"I'm part of the community council and we had already talked about getting a defibrillator so I thought I'd get the ball rolling.

"We had an event last Saturday at Crossgates British Legion and loads of businesses donated prizes for a raffle.

"Once people knew what it was for they were happy to donate and we raised more than we thought!

"The people who attended dug very deeply into their pockets.

"The original target was £1,000 so it is fantastic that people have been so generous."

Aileen didn't even realise she'd had a heart attack until some signs made her think something wasn't right the next day.

She continued: "It was not a major heart attack but I was in the hospital for four or five days.

"It was totally out of the blue.

"I just thought I had indigestion the night before but the next morning, when I went for a walk, I felt breathless.

"I phoned the doctors and that was when I was told I'd had a heart attack.

"I'm feeling fine now but it took a good six months for me to recover."

Aileen thanked all the businesses and individuals who donated money and prizes.