North Texas nonprofit donates hundreds of AEDs to organizations, schools
PLANO, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – The remarkable progress that Damar Hamlin has made in just a few days is due in large part to the immediate response from medical personnel on the field Monday.
Beginning CPR and having quick access to an AED can save lives. Karen Schrah knows this firsthand, and her nonprofit is making sure others do too.
In 2009, her son, Zachary, was at football practice at Plano East Senior High when he collapsed on the field from sudden cardiac arrest.
"The AED was not immediately available and so it was administered after six minutes that he had been down and CPR had been started," she said. "Every minute that passes is pretty devastating."
Sadly, her son didn't survive.
"It's the number one killer to student athletes and we didn't know that he had a heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy - which is an enlarged heart," she said. "He was active, he played baseball, football, loved the outdoors and just had no warning signs."
After learning all of this she created Living for Zachary to educate others.
"I just did not want that to happen to other families in our community," she said.
Not only has the nonprofit donated more than 500 AEDs to youth-based organizations and schools, but they've also partnered with Baylor Scott & White's Heart Hospital in Plano to provide free heart screenings for youth ages 12 to 22.
"We do an echocardiogram.. an EKG, a blood pressure check and also we do a short questionnaire on family history," she said. "The cardiologist will reach out to families if there is an issue."
In the years that have followed since her son's passing, Schrah says she's heard firsthand accounts of how this work has saved lives.
"This has impacted a lot of people, a lot of families, and I think Zachary would be very proud of us for doing what we're doing," she said.
In the coming weeks there will be two free heart screenings. One happening in McKinney and the other in Southlake.