A Liverpool father made a memorable impression on King Charles
last month when he received an OBE for his charitable work,
admitting he deliberately stretched royal protocol to spend a few
extra seconds speaking to the monarch.
Mark King, 63, was recognised for founding the Oliver King Foundation, which campaigns to improve
access to defibrillators following the tragic death of his son
Oliver. The 12-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest during a swimming
lesson at King David High School in Wavertree in 2011 and was later
diagnosed with sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS).
Reflecting on his encounter with the King at Windsor Castle,
Mark said he had been briefed on how the audience would proceed but
chose to linger. “I’ve not finished,” he thought, managing to
exchange a laugh with the monarch while talking about his son.
Since Oliver’s death, Mark and the foundation have distributed
more than 7,000 defibrillators across schools, sports venues, and
workplaces in England, with over 80 lives reportedly saved. The
campaign also prompted government guidance ensuring every state
school has access to the life-saving devices.
Accompanied at the ceremony by his wife Joanne and son Ben, Mark
described his delight at the recognition.
Speaking to Birkenhead News, Mark
said: “I’ve always said we’re not about awards, we just go
under the radar and do what we need to do,” he told the Local
Democracy Reporting Service. “But when the letter came through the
door… She said read it, it is for you.”
A self-professed royalist, Mark said the Windsor visit was “just
right up my street.” During the brief audience, he recalled joking
with King Charles, saying, “‘As one King to another,’ and to be
fair, he knew a lot about the foundation and he said, tell me about
Oliver… he was interested. You know when someone’s interested, and
he was.”
Since establishing the foundation in 2012, Mark has personally
delivered defibrillators from Stornoway in Scotland to Portsmouth
in the south of England. The foundation also provides training in
their use and has received support from former Liverpool footballer
Jamie Carragher.
Mark admitted he deliberately broke the usual etiquette of the
royal investiture. “They said to me… you get two or three minutes
with him and then he’ll put his hand out. You’ll shake his hand,
you’ll bow, step back, and you’ll go. So, I thought, ‘I haven’t
finished talking to you,’ and he put his hand out, so I put mine on
top for a few seconds more. He knew what I was at and burst out
laughing.”
While Mark welcomed the personal accolade, he emphasised that
the recognition belonged to more than just himself. “This isn’t for
me. This is for our Ol. Mostly, it’s for the city. It’s for my
city. The support I’ve had is second to none and you wouldn’t get
that anywhere else,” he said.
Mark now hopes to persuade Liverpool Council to support his
vision for the UK’s first cardiac testing and prevention centre in
the city, continuing the work that has made the Oliver King
Foundation a life-saving force across the country.
