High School Coach Honored for Saving Student’s Life

Celebrating survival

Mary Newman, Foundation president, presented Piccione with
an award inscribed with words from the Talmud: “To save one life is as if to
save the world.” She also recognized others contributing to the save: Superintendent
Joseph Phelan; then Principal Anthony Celenza; School Nurse Bonnie Murphy,
R.N.; teachers Bob Krausz, Ron Keefe, and Melanie Babineau; and students Thomas
McCormack, Matthew DeIulio and Dylan Alben.

Other stories of survival were celebrated during the
reception. David Belkin, Esq., now a member of the Foundation Board of
Directors, described his brush with death. His life was saved three years ago
at an elementary school in eastern Pennsylvania, thanks to the availability of
an AED and willing rescuers.

Remembering the lost

The program also paid tribute to the majority of SCA
victims who do not survive. Sally Wiggin, WTAE TV Action News anchor and event
emcee, shared her connection to the cause. “I had just returned from a
homecoming dance. That’s when I found out my father had just dropped dead from
sudden cardiac arrest. I was only 14.”

Bobby Khan, MD, PhD, chairman of the Foundation Board of
Directors, and Assistant Professor of Medicine (Cardiology) at Emory University
in Atlanta, described the terrible toll that SCA has taken on our nation,
noting it is the single largest cause of death in the U.S. He, too, has a
personal connection—his mother died from SCA on Christmas Day several years
ago.

There was not a dry eye in the room when Elaine Liberati,
a Pittsburgh Public School teacher, shared the grief that she has experienced
since the sudden death of her daughter, Annie, then 22, in 2007. Ever since,
she said, quoting from Viktor Frankl, she and her family have been searching
for meaning in the midst of their sorrow.

Jamie Dixon, men’s basketball coach at the University of Pittsburgh, told his story of loss—describing good times with his sister Maggie, until her sudden death at the age of 28 when she was coach of the women’s basketball team at the U.S. Military Academy. Dixon, who has lost other relatives to SCA, has become a strong advocate for the cause.

Rep. Mike Turzai, PA House of Representatives, 28^th Legislative District, also spoke at the reception, expressing his support for PA HB 1803, which promotes CPR/AED education and AED placement in schools. He also announced he will be introducing legislation to designate an SCA Awareness Month in Pennsylvania.

In light of the Foundation awards reception, Chief Executive Dan Onorato proclaimed October 15 SCA Awareness Day in Allegheny County.

Cardiac Science, ZOLL Medical, Heartsine, St. Francis Foundation, The Gerald McGinnis Cardiovascular Institute at Allegheny General Hospital, and LifeCare Hospitals of Pittsburgh sponsored the event.

Entertainment was provided by the North Allegheny High School Strolling Strings.

Judy Kristan, Ali Newman, Jennifer Bassett, Jeff Kristan, Janet Emery and Carissa Caramanis O'Brien served on the event planning committee.

It seems nearly everyone at the event had some connection to SCA. "I lost my father, four uncles and a cousin to sudden cardiac arrest," said Mrs. Kristan, event chairperson.

Additional photos: http://www.blacktie-pittsburgh.com/premiere_events/details.cfm?id=791