45th AED Donation From Andrew's Legacy

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Friday, 17 May 2019 08:43

The latest AED donation from Andrew's Legacy is keeping the late teenager's memory alive.

OXFORD COUNTY - Andrew's Legacy continues to keep the memory of the late Andrew Stoddart alive, by donating automated external defibrillators in Oxford County.

The foundation recently partnered with Oxford County EMS to make their 45th donation.

Andrew's mother Cara Schmidt says their work allows his life to continue on.

"It's very heartwarming to me. It brings a smile to my face when I go into a public place that I see an AED that has an Andrew's sticker on because every AED that we donate has Andrew's sticker, and it's so heartwarming and uplifting for me to know in Andrew's death that he will not be forgotten. Andrew was alive, he was here and because of his death we can save somebody's else life. So it's very heartwarming to see that Andrew, Andrew's name and Andrew himself will live on long after he's not here."

The foundation has been bringing awareness to the community by placing AED's on soccer and baseball fields for the past four years. Most recently, they've started to put them in schools throughout Oxford County.

She says there are only two AED's currently in Thames Valley District School Board.

"Andrew was playing soccer in Kintore four years ago on May 11th and he collapsed from a sudden cardiac arrest. Unfortunately, there was no AED in the school or on the field and it took EMS a little longer to get there than normal because of being in a rural area. Andrew didn't survive that night and his family, my sister and I, and some other of Andrew's family, got together and decided that this wasn't going to happen to any other other families. So we started the campaign right then and there to place AED's on soccer fields and baseball fields, and now we've been doing them in Thames Valley District School Board because there was only two AED's in the schools at the time of Andrew's death. So we have been working diligently to make sure that that is no longer happening and all schools in the Thames Valley District School Board will be equipped with an AED hopefully, shortly."

The foundation has also partnered with other local organizations to make donations, including the Dave Munson Memorial fund and Chase McEacheran. Schmidt says by working together they're able to raise awareness on the importance of having AED's in the community.

"We've donated 45 to date with Dave Munson Memorial fund, Oxford County EMS and Chase McEacheran and together we find that we are stronger so that we can get the word out there on how important AED's are in the community, and CPR and by standard CPR. In fact a AED was used this past week in Ottawa at a soccer field on a 51-year-old, he was shocked one time and by the time EMS arrived he was sitting up and talking. And that is the reason why we do what we do, to save a life, so that no other family has to go through what we have all gone through."

Schmidt, along with her sister and other family members, started Andrew's Legacy four years ago. This past weekend marked the four year anniversary of Andrew's passing.