Though Kevin Major lived for just 19 years, his mother is making sure that his memory will not die.
Major, who grew up in Westfield, died in July 2011 as the result of sudden cardiac arrest suffered in a boating accident on Congamond Lake in Southwick. It was later determined that he suffered from hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickening of the heart muscle that makes it difficult to pump blood.
According to Major’s mother, Susan Canning, the cardiac arrest could have happened anywhere. After her son died, Canning joined with three other families who also had lost a relative to sudden cardiac arrest. They succeeded in getting the Massachusetts Legislature to approve a bill requiring all schools to install automated external defibrillators (AEDs).
The devices analyze heart rhythms and can deliver an electric shock to reverse the effects of cardiac arrest.
Canning also established KEVS Foundation to raise awareness about cardiovascular screenings, as well as money to buy AEDs. The foundation has raised about $80,000 and donated 65 of the devices to schools and nonprofit organizations which serve children in western Massachusetts, including Hampshire County. Applications to receive an AED are available online at www.kevsfoundation.com.
“My goal is to have an AED as common as a fire extinguisher,” Canning says.
After suffering the tragic loss of her son, Canning has found an admirable way to help prevent other similar deaths.