Five kilometer walk held over weekend a matter of the heart

Thanks in part to the efforts of nearly 125 walkers and runners, every Whitley County school now has a new automatic external defibrillator (AED), which is designed to save someone’s life in the event of a heart attack.
The AED is an emergency device that takes people step by step through the process of trying to get someone’s heart pumping again, from where to place their hands to administer CPR to administering electric shocks if needed.
Rich Prewitt, a coordinator of the Your Heart for our Hearts 5-K Walk/Run, said participants raised roughly $17,000 of the $21,000 cost for the project. The school system has agreed to pick up the rest of the funding, but Prewitt said there are still some donations out that could raise the total.
“It was just absolutely incredible community support. The community really needs to be commended for coming out and supporting such a worthy cause,” he noted. “We are still securing donations, and if we can get a couple thousand more next week, it looks like we might be able to get to the entire $21,000 figure that is our hope.”
15 AED’s have already been purchased, and were placed in Whitley County schools last week.
“There will be one at every elementary school in the Whitley County public school system, one at the middle school, two at the high school, one at the transportation garage to put on buses as they go on long field trips, and one at the central office downtown,” Prewitt said.
Prewitt said much of the credit for the events success goes to Dee Dee Bishop.
“She did a wonderful job of getting everybody organized. The credit for raising that much money probably goes totally to her,” he added.
Lans Lay, the youth service center coordinator at Whitley County Middle School, said he participated in the event because he wants to make things better for kids at the middle.
“We are trying to purchase the AED’s to make our schools more safe for our kids. I think everyone out here just loves kids in general that is a big reason why I participated, and why everybody else did,” Lay said.
Gary Barton, who walked and jogged in the event, said he participated because he felt it was a very good cause.
“I like to run a little bit. I run a couple of miles every day or so. So I combined a good cause with a way to get my Saturday morning workout in,” Barton said.
Barton joked before the event that he hoped they wouldn’t have to use the AED on him by the time the race was over.
“There is a lot of fear of that. The ambulance is right here beside us, and I am hoping that it won’t be too far away from me,” he noted.