Meet Some Mikey Hero’s

A life saved by 17-year-old Mikey trained student Kayley of Toronto!

“I was walking in downtown Toronto on Labour Day Monday
with my grandmother when we noticed people making a fuss.
There was a man on the ground and he was blue in colour.
Automatically I knew something was wrong!

My grandmother grabbed my backpack and I knelt down
beside him to perform CPR. I got to just over 30 compressions
and he started to make a wheezing noise. There were people
standing around but nobody else knew how to properly
perform CPR.

I knew CPR because I went through the Mikey Young
At Heart App. Going through the videos and quizzes
gave me the confidence to act immediately and without
fear. I knew what to do and I knew if I did it, this man
would have a better chance of survival.”

The Martin Family’s AEDs for Schools campaign was a huge success, getting AEDs into all Ottawa Public Schools!

We’re proud to share the amazing news that The Martin family have succeeded in their goal to get MIKEYs placed in every public school in the Ottawa-Carleton area!

In February of 2017, while playing with friends at recess, Griffin Martin suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. The staff jumped into action immediately, but unfortunately, they nor the emergency personnel who arrived afterwards could revive him.

After learning more about the incident, the family learned that there was no AED at Griffin’s school. If an AED was available during their son’s cardiac arrest, he may have stood a better chance of surviving. In fact, 78 of the 119 Ottawa public elementary schools do not currently have an AED available.

To honour Griffin’s memory the family created a campaign to raise money for the installation of AED’s in every school in the Ottawa area, including Orlean’s Wood, Griffin Martin’s elementary school.

We helped the Martins launch their AEDs for Schools – Remember Griffin campaign at the end of September and in just a few weeks the Martins raised close to $20,000. CBC News interviewed Griffin’s parents, Andrea and Damien, and The Mikey Network President, Eva Naumovski, and news stories ran online, in print, and on the radio, nationwide.

All of this activity quickly got the attention of senior staff within the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. It turns out that the OCDSB already had the money for the AED’s and was planning to install them in phases over the next year. The main hurdle that the school board faced to placing them sooner was a lack of training among staff and an unclear plan for how the machines would be maintained.

They announced in October, that they will begin the installation of Mikey defibrillators in all of their school’s by September 2018.

The OCDSB has partnered with the Ottawa Paramedic Service, which oversees close to 1,200 defibrillators in public places across Ottawa. A spokesperson for the OPS has stated that the schools will be responsible to maintain the AED’s, but they will assist in fixing any problems should they arise.

“The Mikey Network was proud to work with the Martin family to bring awareness to their cause. We couldn’t be
happier to share this amazing accomplishment to honour their late son!” Said The Mikey Network President,
Eva Naumovski.

Two More Local Heroes

Tom Condotta and Darlene Fournier jumped in to help a man whose heart had stopped during a recreational volleyball league game in March at Chinguacousy Secondary School. This incident had a happy ending, thanks to the two educators’ quick response and knowledge of CPR/AED. Read more here.

Canada’s 911 Ride was a huge success!

Every year the Canada 911 Foundation holds an annual
motorcycle ride called Canada’s 911 Ride, to raise funds and
awareness for families of fallen emergency service personnel,
children who were victims of violent crimes, and The Mikey
Network. This year’s event was hugely successful and
involved lots of fun, emotional stories, and the thunderous
roar of motorcycle engines. READ MORE…

Family credits defibrillator for saving son’s life | CTV Toronto News

CTV News Toronto recently ran a story about Luke Pignatelli,
one of the young people who are now equipped with their
own life-saving MIKEY AED.

The Pignatelli family in Aurora have more than one reason to be grateful to The Mikey Network. Last year their 13-year-old son Luke suffered a cardiac arrest when exercising in his school gym.
Firefighters revived him with a defibrillator and he was rushed to SickKids hospital. He recovered but doctors couldn’t determine the exact cause of his problem and so he was given a temporary pacemaker.

Still, his parents were worried that it could happen again, especially during their long trips north to the family cottage.
So through their Young at Heart program, The Mikey Network provided a portable MIKEY AED that Luke can take with him
wherever he goes.

Because the doctors think the problem might be genetic, Luke’s two brothers were also provided with a MIKEY that can always be on hand at their swim classes. And Luke’s grandfather who also has a
history of heart problems has his own MIKEY as well.

With so many family members afforded the peace of mind offered by their MIKEYs, the Pignatelli family all participated in this year’s annual Walk for Life fundraiser. They encourage everyone to do the same, so that more life-saving MIKEYs can be placed in public locations and provided to people whose lives can depend on them.
WATCH VIDEO…

Please help The Mikey Network!

These are just a few of the great things that happened this year. The Mikey Network receives no government funding so all of our initiatives depend on the generosity of Team Mikey and those who support us.

Thanks to the generosity of our corporate sponsors HERITY and
Heathwood Homes, 100% of your donations go to promoting
heart health and placing life-saving MIKEYs in key locations.

This holiday season, please consider making a donation in
your name or on behalf of a friend or loved one. We will
gladly send an announcement card on your behalf, as
well as providing a tax receipt for all gifts over $00.
This holiday season and all through the year to come,
it’s in your heart to help!