Description

My name is Marty Folwell, and I am a volunteer at The Village Charter School in Boise, Idaho. I am working with the school to provide education, staff training, and AED devices. My son, Max, is a student who suffers from CPVT.

In 2013 our daughter, Taylor, suffered Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Just one month after her 16th birthday, this otherwise healthy and energetic girl died suddenly in our home. In 2016, on the third anniversary of Taylor’s death, her younger brother, Max, then 9 years old, also suffered Sudden Cardiac Arrest. Max’s heart rhythm stabilized in the ER. Unbeknownst to us, Taylor suffered from a genetic heart condition, one that her brother now lives with.

Unfortunately, our family’s story isn’t an uncommon one. Every year more deaths are caused by Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) than breast cancer, lung cancer, prostate cancer, and AIDS- combined.

Children can be affected at any age; the events often happen during school or after-school activities. Often children are undiagnosed until they collapse. Cardiac death happens in minutes – rescuers have 3 to 5 minutes to save a life, making cardiac emergency response action plans and AEDs critical. Each year approximately 395,000 people suffer SCA in community settings.

When enrolling Max in public school we learned that very few local schools had AEDs on site. We want to help protect Max, and others like him by making sure AEDs are available and easily accessible in our community spaces.