BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Defibrillators that save lives when children suffer sudden cardiac arrest could be in thousands of schools across the country with the stroke of a pen.
The Hearts Act passed the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and awaits President Biden's signature. The bill has strong ties to Brevard County.
Rafe Maccarone was a week away from his 16th birthday in 2007 when the teenager died from heart complications at soccer practice at Cocoa Beach High School.
There was no AED.
Since his death, Rafe's friends started a non-profit raising awareness about thousands of children who have died this way.
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After years of getting results, the founder of Who We Play For talked about what could be their biggest win yet. "It's really an honor to know that Rafe's legacy and the legacy of hundreds and thousands of kids who lost their lives to sudden cardiac arrest are continued through this bill," Evan Ernst said standing on the field of the high school stadium.Ernst said he hopes the bill will be a historic investment in public schools to provide tens of thousands of AEDs and CPR and heart screenings to thousands of school districts.
A CPR lesson for all students is required by Brevard Public Schools and athletes are also required to undergo a heart screening.
Cocoa Beach athletic director Ted Kimmey credited Ernst and Who We Play For for helping save lives.
"Our coaches are also mandatory required to complete the sudden cardiac awareness course so that they're trained on the signs and what to do in the case of a situation so they can react accordingly," Kimmey said.
After everyone who's been touched by Maccarone's story, Ernst said he would thank his friend if he were still alive today.
"What I would say to Rafe is thank you for the gift of perspective at such a young age of what really matters in this world," he said. "The eulogy virtues and values that he's given a bunch of best friends who've carried on this fight for over a decade."
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