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Community Corner

"Adam's Angels," Whole Foods Team Up to Prevent Sudden Cardiac Deaths

June 18 5k Race to Raise Funds for Heart Disease Research, Student Scholarships

Shoppers at the Fair Lakes Whole Foods Market last Wednesday got an impromptu lesson in how to save the life of someone stricken by sudden cardiac arrest.

Representatives of the Adam P. Seymour Foundation, better known as “Adam’s Angels,” were on hand along with Rachel Moyer of the Gregory W. Moyer Defibrillator Fund and Steve Nicholas of Seattle-based Cardiac Science to demonstrate the use of an automated external defibrillator (AED) to revive heart attack victims.

According to Moyer, who lost a son 10 years ago to sudden cardiac death, between 7,000 and 10,000 children die each year from cardiac arrest, which claims about 350,000 lives overall in the U.S. each year.

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“It’s like two jumbo jets crashing every single day in this country, averaging out to about 900 people a day,” said Moyer. “We don’t know if we could save them all, but we could save some of them if AEDs were on hand.”

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation typically saves 4 to 6 percent of people suffering heart failure. With an AED, the survival rate jumps to 75 percent, Moyer said. The trick is to get to the AED and back to the victim within 90 seconds of the attack, she said.

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The Adam P. Seymour Foundation was established last year in memory of the 2010 Robinson Secondary School graduate and incoming Lynchburg College freshman who collapsed while competing in a pre-season training session with the school’s soccer team.

“Our goal is to get an AED into every school and make sure that people are trained to use them,” said Beverly Seymour, Adam’s mother.

Moyer agreed. “You wouldn’t let your kid get into a car without a seatbelt, so would you send them to soccer practice without an AED?”

Cardiac Science, which manufactures AEDs, has donated three of the life-saving devices to the Adam’s Angels. One of those will be housed at Robinson, Seymour said. The other two beneficiaries are still being determined.

Whole Foods donated $4,370—5 percent of the day’s proceeds—to Adam’s Angels. “We are obviously pleased with that donation,” Adam’s father, Jim Seymour, said.

Adam’s Angels will host a 5k race on Saturday, June 18, to raise funds for the nonprofit foundation, which provides scholarships to athletes who excel in academics, the arts and community service. The foundation also is dedicated to raising awareness about congenital heart defects and sudden cardiac arrest and supporting research on heart disease.

Sponsors for Saturday’s race include Cardiac Science, Whole Foods Market Fair Lakes, American Property Construction and the Devine Family Foundation. The Hair Cuttery will be on hand to provide blue hair extensions to runners, a nod to Adam’s favorite color.

Runners can register online at http://prracing.racebx.com, or at Robinson on the day of the race. The fee is $30. Race packets can be picked up on Thursday, June 16, and Friday, June 17, between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., at the Potomac River Running Store on Burke Center Parkway or on the day of the race between 6:30 - 7:15 a.m. The race begins at 8 a.m.

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