PITTSBURGH, PA--Martin J. Gannon, Vice President of Investments at Stifel in Bethel Park, PA, has been elected to serve on the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation Board of Directors. As a financial advisor in wealth management, Gannon has more than 38 years of experience in helping clients identify and prioritize their objectives. He also has a strong history of community service, including involvement with youth sports, and fundraising for Seton LaSalle High School and building their alumni association.
Gannon survived sudden cardiac arrest in 2003. He had been attending a basketball game at Penn Hills High School in Pittsburgh, when he suddenly collapsed. A 16-year-old student athletic trainer, Matt Strauss, saved his life by using an automated external defibrillator (AED)--a device that Strauss had personally acquired for the high school through a grant from the St. Margaret Foundation.
Since then, Strauss became a paramedic, a volunteer for the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation, and now serves as a Secret Service agent assigned to the White House. This summer, when covering presidential candidates, Strauss used an AED to save another life at a Bernie Sanders rally.
"This past February, while at a high school basketball game, my pacemaker/defibrillator fired for the first time in 13 years," said Gannon. "The experience of once again being rushed to the ER served be a strong reminder that I should be involved in the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Foundation."
Kathryn Koenig, Board Chair, said, "We are honored that Martin has joined our team. We look forward to working together to prevent death and disability from sudden cardiac arrest."