Andrew's Legacy Among The Finalists At The Pillar Community Innovation Awards

Sunday, 30 August 2020 07:00

Andrew's Legacy was nominated for the tireless work they have done to get Automated External Defibrillators (AED) installed at every school in the Thames Valley District School Board.

OXFORD COUNTY - Andrew's Legacy has been named a finalist this year for the Pillar Award for Community Impact.

The Pillar Community Innovation Awards celebrates how individuals, organizations and enterprises are investing in positive community impact in the categories of Innovation, Leadership, Impact, Collaboration and Community Choice. Andrews Legacy was nominated for the tireless work they have done to get Automated External Defibrillators installed at every single school in the Thames Valley District School Board.

The organization started after the tragic passing of Andrew Stoddart in Kintore. He was playing soccer and it's believed an AED could have saved his life that day. Since then his mom Cara Schmidt and his aunt Krista Granger have made it their mission to equip as many sports fields, schools, arenas and other public areas with the life saving devices as possible. Cara Schmidt says they have collaborated with several community organizations including EMS, Fire, Kiwanis Club, Lions Club to donate 55 AED's to various public places in Oxford, Perth, Middlesex and London.

"My sister and I have trained and shown people how to do CPR and use an AED. We have also worked with school board trustee Jake Skinner and others and they now have AED's in every single school in the TVDSB. We also worked with the Heart and Stroke Foundation to get Bill 141 passed in the Ontario legislature, which is an AED registry for all of Ontario."

Schmidt says the work at Andrew's Legacy is far from over.

"Our work is not done, we are going to keep going and I have talked to mothers across Canada now who are in the same situation that we are. We are going to push to have a Canada wide policy and a Canada wide AED registration and a Canada wide policy to have AED's in all public places."

Schmidt did want to give a huge thank you to everyone who has supported them along the way by donating money, donating AED's or volunteering at their events.

"It is so awesome to see how the community has rallied around our family and with the death of Andrew, it is amazing to see that community support and community spirit is so alive and well."