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Prince George Gymnastics Club receives life saving device

The Prince George Gymnastics Club now has an AED defibrillator courtesy of Team Bond and the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s annual fundraising drive.

Just under 14-thousand dollars was raised by the team this year in the BC/Yukon region to help choose a recipient for the new device.

Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond touched on the value of the device today (Friday) after her husband Bill battled through his own heart issues.

“You know, it does make a difference when you see one of your family members and you want to make sure they get the best opportunity to enjoy a second chance at life if necessary.”

“This is really important to me. When a cardiac arrest occurs and if you are able to access an AED and CPR, your chances of survival go up astronomically and what’s so important is having AED’s publically accessible.”

Melanie Hanson is a Cardiac Athletes Ambassador in Prince George who is very pleased an AED is now at the gymnastics club.

“I’m ecstatic to have it here. It means security for me as my daughters works here and coaches here, it protects the community and the thousands of people who come through this building every year.”

Hanson experienced her own cardiac event at Masich Place Stadium several years ago that luckily didn’t require the use of an AED.

“My symptoms didn’t start until I was 36 so I went years and I was a competitive athlete in my teenage years and never had any issues until that day and that’s the thing is that we just don’t know when these things are going to happen.”

“What happened to me is that I self-resolved, which is not very common as most people will have a cardiac arrest and the AED would have needed to be used.”

Over the past decade, Bond and her team have raised nearly 60-thousand dollars for the Heart & Stroke Foundation.

Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].

Brendan Pawliw
Brendan Pawliw
Since moving to Prince George in 2015, Brendan has covered local sports including the WHL’s Prince George Cougars, Prince George Spruce Kings, UNBC Timberwolves, Cariboo Cougars AAA, and Northern Capitals U18 female hockey teams. Career highlights include play-by-play during the Spruce Kings' BCHL championship runs in 2018 and 2019, including the Doyle Cup win. He also covered the 2019 National Junior A Championship, the 2017 Telus Cup, the 2022 World Women’s Curling Championship, and the 2022 BC Summer Games. Brendan is the news voice on 94.3 The Goat and Country 97 FM, reporting on crime, real estate, labour, and environmental issues. Outside of work, he officiates box lacrosse and fastball, sits on the Prince George Sports Hall of Fame board, and co-hosts the Hockey North podcast.

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