Cottage Grove family plans to donate AEDs to every park after losing son to cardiac arrest
COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. – A generous gift has been made from the family of a young man who died from a heart attack.
Teddy Dowdle was just 22 when he collapsed during a game of pickup basketball last year. An automated external defibrillator (AED) could have saved his life.
"Imagine getting a frantic call from your son, telling you to rush to the park. Something horrible has happened," said father Craig Dowdle.
Cottage Grove's Deputy Fire Chief John Pritchard says this scenario is unfortunately all too common.
"In the state of Minnesota alone, there's over 2,000 sudden cardiac arrests a year. And the sad part is so many of those folks could've had better chance of survival, walk out of the hospital and see their families again if they had received immediate care," Pritchard said.
To honor Teddy, his family donated an AED to Woodridge Park in Cottage Grove, placing it just feet from where he collapsed.
"Last year at this time, it would've taken less than a minute to get that AED shock, and my son would still be here," Dowdle said.
An AED walks a user through the entire process, including where to place the paddles. But it's also important to know how to perform CPR if an AED isn't available.
"When folks get immediate CPR, their chance of survival increases up to three times, and then the AED even furthermore increases their chance of survival," Pritchard said.
Teddy's family is now trying to place AED devices in every park and athletic facility they can.
"One year ago today, when we sat in that hospital and looked at his body, we said we want to save a life for this life that was lost," Dowdle said. "And hopefully we can save many."
Cottage Grove is now working toward becoming one of Minnesota's "Heart Safe" communities, where AEDs are widespread.
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