Small Town Mayor On Big Mission To Save Lives
Mayor on a mission to put life-saving devices in all emergency vehicles in Hardeeville
(HARDEEVILLE) The Mayor of a Jasper County community is on a mission to make sure everyone in his town has the same second chance at life he got last spring. Harry Williams is raising money to to put defibrillators, or AED’s, in every police cruiser and fire vehicle in the City of Hardeeville. $60,000 dollars is the goal to equip emergency responders in the small town. “AED’s are the only effective treatment for sudden cardiac arrest. And CPR will often not revive a cardiac arrest victim where the heart actually stops. And that’s why it’s so important.” Williams said. He knows first hand about the life-saving power of the device when it’s in the right place at the right time.
March 16, 2016, an Ides of March Mayor Williams will not forget. He was playing in a softball game in the Sun City community, when a widow-maker of a heart attack hit him while he was in the outfield. Williams heart stopped and he collapsed, suffering a massive heart attack with cardiac arrest. ” I would be dead right now without that AED machine. The EMT who took me to the hospital, told me the next day, had not my angels in the outfield responded quickly and with an AED machine, that the results probably would not have been the same.” said Williams, continuing about how the AED worked when CPR didn’t. ” CPR Did not revive me. And I had experienced EMT’s, right to my aid. Only when a visiting doctor jumped the fence, another person brought an AED machine that was available at the field, and they applied it, did my heart revive.” he said.
The experience is something Williams wouldn’t wish on anyone, but he wants to help everyone and anyone in Hardeeville survive cardiac arrest. ” With the response time, every minute that goes by, there’s a 10% more chance that you’ll die. So in only 10 minutes, you’re finished and I know that personally because it happened to me.” the Mayor said. The City of Hardeeville is hosting it’s first-ever Fun run for a Cause this weekend to help raise the money needed to buy the life-saving equipment. ” Every little bit helps, even if it’s five dollars.” said Williams, adding you never know, the life you could help save could be your own or someone you care about. “Our police will be patrolling all the major roads. So if you ever go on I 95 or Highway 278, our police will be there with an AED machine should you ever need it. I know very clearly what the difference between having an AED and not having it means to my life. And I want to make sure it means something to other lives as well.” Williams said.
Story Credit: http://wsav.com/2017/08/18/small-town-mayor-on-big-mission-to-save-lives/
