For many student athletes at WB, a cardiac arrest causing their whole life to change is not something they ever had to think about. But, sadly sudden cardiac arrests are the leading cause of death for student athletes. WB Has Heart is an initiative that is dedicated to changing that.
“WB Has Heart was not only made in honor of those who have been affected by sudden cardiac arrest, but also to raise awareness among WB Students and empower them to respond effectively in the event of sudden cardiac arrest. With 1 athlete dying every 3 days from sudden cardiac arrest, our initiative aims to help prevent student deaths from sudden cardiac arrest and to drive awareness, preparedness and prevention of this silent killer,” said one of the co-founders of the initiative, Amarina Kriko.
The idea for the initiative first started when Matilda Edvardsson, junior at WB, was volunteering at a Beaumont Student Heart Check at another high school. She was so inspired by the program that she based her HOSA and DECA projects on ways to prevent student cardiac arrest.
Kriko explained, “After success from her project, she decided to figure out a way to bring this to her own community and grow it even further. With the support of local organizations that provided funding, she was able to transform a passionate idea into an initiative aimed at preparing and educating the community on how to respond to a cardiac emergency. She then brought Sophia Zholob and I along to build this up all together”
Throughout the creation of WB Has Heart, Kriko, Edvardsson, and Zholob used the help of the HOSA and DECA clubs to bring their idea to life. “The best part of creating and running this initiative is the support that we get from our peers and the lives that we can save! We want to make sure all students are heart healthy and by running events like CPR Training and Heart Checks, we can ensure that. The students at WB have been so supportive and we are honored to be spreading awareness on SCA (sudden cardiac arrest).” Kriko ethused.
Since WB Has Heart has started in the beginning of the school year, they have strived to always give people the opportunity to participate in their events. Kriko said, “The Heart Checks we’re doing on February 1st are free for all students. We wanted to make sure that students didn’t need to pay to ensure that their hearts are healthy and to do so, we decided to make our heart checks free and accessible to everyone!”
If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you should definitely stop by! The link to sign up is posted all over the school on flyers, their website WbHasHeart.com, and on their TikTok and instagram @WbHasHeart. “We HIGHLY encourage students, especially athletes, to sign up for the heart checks to ensure that they have a healthy heart.” Kriko said.
Finally if you are interested in more health related activities besides the heart checks, Kriko explained the other events happening soon, “During the last week of January, there will be a Valentine’s Day themed spirit week with fun activities so stay tuned on our instagram for more updates!” “We also have a guest speaker coming in on January 23rd who almost died from cardiac arrest, but luckily ended up surviving! He will be speaking about his experience with SCA and how he overcame these traumas.”
