WORCESTER, Mass — “Never would have thought a 12-year-old kid could have a heart condition and pass away,” says Ralph Thibodeau of the Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation.
Ralph Thibodeau’s son Josh Thibodeau died while doing a drill on the soccer field in Holden in 2011. EMT’s were there immediately, but he passed away from an undetected heart condition.
“Josh was a goofy fun kid. We still miss Josh every day.”
Since Josh’s passing, Ralph’s family started the Josh Thibodeau Helping Hearts Foundation which donates AEDs, conducts heart screenings, and brings awareness to undetected heart conditions. Leaders with Joe Schwartz Little League have teamed up with him to make sure all of Worcester’s little league baseball fields have AEDs.
“It was after the Monday night football game with Damar Hamlin when we were so horrified,” says Kimberly Stone, Director of Joe Schwartz Little League.
“We can save hundreds of lives in Massachusetts,” says Dr. Joe Sabato, 911 Medical Director at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester.
Dr. Sabato says if people have access to AEDs and know how to use them, it’ll make a difference.
If someone is having a medical emergency you want to, one call 911, two you want to start CPR while waiting for a defibrillator to arrive, three you want to turn it on, and then follow the defibrillator instructions.
“My personal goal is because the best survivor in the United States is Washington State Seattle. I want to make Massachusetts into the Seattle of the east,” says Dr. Sabato.
Dr. Sabato is working with Gov. Healey on passing a bill that would include requiring 911 dispatchers be trained on how to give CPR instructions to callers.
And as far as having an AED at every little league baseball field in Worcester, the city council will make that decision soon.
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