Frisco and Plano will have a nonprofit organization, Living for Zachary which has helped thousands of families, that will conduct heart screening events for young people according to a Dallas Morning News article from April 4 which reports,
“The nonprofit Living for Zachary is hosting a series of youth heart screening events, including ones in Frisco and Plano this month.
Schrah founded Living for Zachary a couple months after her son’s death in 2009, , according to the report.
The nonprofit has provided heart screenings, AED donations, CPR/AED certification classes, scholarships and awareness events for thousands of families and children across Texas, according to the report.
“We are saving lives,” Schrah told NBC5. “We have saved lives with the AEDs we have donated and the heart screenings. Zach’s life could have potentially been saved had there been the same program in place for him.”
Living for Zachary all started with Zachary Schrah’s mother, Karen, who initiated the nonprofit organization to help prevent other youth from suffering the same fate as Zachary according to an NBC 5 DFW article from April 1. They say,
“On April 2, 2009, Karen Schrah’s life changed forever. Her son Zachery was just 16-years-old when he died at football practice at Plano East High School. He had gone into sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed.
“He was 6’2’’ and an athlete with no signs of a heart condition. We didn’t even think about that as he played baseball and football. We just had no idea and it came very sudden. It was unexpected and definitely just impacted our whole community,” Schrah said.”
The Frisco screening vent will take place on April 16 at Frisco ER, 12600 Rolater Road while the Plano’s screening event will be on April 23 at the Collin County Association of Realtors.