It is an amazing statistic: 9 out of 10 people who suffer cardiac arrest outside the hospital die.

Cardiac arrest can happen anywhere and affect a wide variety of people. I learned about sudden cardiac arrest when my nine-year-old went into cardiac arrest. While Kevin was playing tag with his sisters and cousins, he collapsed and was unresponsive. Because his aunt was CPR-trained and park rangers had an AED, he was kept alive (yes, I’ve heard an AED in action) and transported to a medical facility. Unfortunately, Kevin had undiagnosed cardiomyopathy and died in the ER.

The readiness of our community can be the difference between life and death — I’ve seen it first hand. Without bystander CPR (his aunt) and the AED, Kevin would have never made it to the medical facility.

Please join me to take action to save lives. Every walker who joins, every dollar donated, means more people trained in lifesaving CPR, more research and more lifesaving moments for everyone.

I Walk to Save Lives. Help me reach my goal today by joining Cirtec Medical and PMO Pulse Patrol or donating towards our goal. Together, we can turn bystanders into lifesavers.