FABRICE Muamba’s miraculous recovery has inspired a campaign to have CPR taught in secondary schools.

The British Heart Foundation wants children all over the country to learn l i f e - s aving cardiopulmonary resuscitation skills so they can increase the chance of people surviving heart attacks.

The campaign has gained so much momentum since the Wanderers star’s recovery that the charity is now only 2,000 signatures away from presenting a petition to parliament.

The decision to teach CPR currently rests with individual schools, but the BHF wants to see it put on the national curriculum.

Maura Gillespie, the charity’s head of policy and public affairs, said: “Teaching young people how to save a life is as important as learning to read and write.”

The petition has so far been signed by more than 100,000 people across the UK, but the charity needs 100,000 signatures in England alone to present it to Westminster.

Dr Andrew Lockey from Research Councils UK said: “Feeling helpless when a person goes into cardiac arrest is an agonising situation.

“A ten minute delay between suffering a cardiac arrest and using a defibrillator could be the difference between life and death. Performing CPR offers a lifeline when every second counts.”

In order to make the plans a reality, 60 staff would need to be trained and schools would also need £126 mannequins to practise the procedure.

Cllr Nick Peel, Bolton Council’s executive member for children’s services, said: “I fully support the British Heart Foundation campaign.

“CPR can save lives—the recent incident with Muamba showed that. This is a great initiative.”

Muamba’s heart stopped beating unaided for 78 minutes when he collapsed during the March 17 FA Cup quarter final against Tottenham at White Hart Lane.

He may be in the crowd tomorrow night when Wanderers take on Spurs again in the Premier League.

Manager Owen Coyle said: “It gives everybody an opportunity to see how well Fabrice is doing and how far he has come from what happened on that day.”