Kayla Burt, Portland, OR – 20 at time of event (2002)

It was New Year’s Eve, and her basketball team was staying over to celebrate. But Kayla never saw the festivities. She had freshly brushed teeth, and a brush with death. Loree Payne, her best friend, watched Kayla fall face down between the bed and the TV—they all thought it was a joke. But it wasn’t.

April 17, 2008 –VATICAN CITY – Pope Benedict XVI personally accepted the gift of an automated external defibrillator (AED) from Gintaras Vaisnys and Fabio Rangoni, representatives of a U.S. defibrillator company.

Vaisnys and Rangoni met with the Pope at a recent papal audience where Vaisnys presented the AED while Rangoni explained to the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics how defibrillators can save victims of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA).

“Pope Benedict was genuinely interested and immediately grasped how a defibrillator can save lives,” Vaisnys said.

Vatican City is one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations: approximately 17,000 visitors arrive each day to see St. Peter’s Square and Basilica, the Vatican Museums including the Sistine Chapel, the Vatican Gardens and Grottos, and other attractions.

April 17, 2008–In a first for local schools, the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board will soon place in its high school athletic departments a dozen automated external defibrillators donated by area medical groups

The first of the devices will be donated to the School Board today in the memory of Glen Oaks High School student-athlete Shannon Veal, who died Feb. 18 after collapsing during a basketball game. The first automated external defibrillator, or AED, will go to Glen Oaks High.

After learning about Veal’s tragic death — believed to be caused by a heart condition, David Carmouche, MD, persuaded eight area medical groups to donate about $20,000 together to buy the 12 devices with the help of the Kiwanis civic organization.