Kathy Hansen was worried.
One of the first-graders in her class at Tacoma’s Point Defiance Elementary School had been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness that could result in cardiac arrest.
Riley Taylor needed quick action to survive should he suffer a collapse at school, but Hansen was concerned paramedics couldn’t get there in time to help him.
Hansen decided the school needed its own automated external defibrillator, and she and her students embarked on a quest to get one.
The result of their “Rise to Riley” campaign: Not only a defibrillator for their school but five more for other schools as well.
Hansen and her class were recognized Friday with the Spirit of the Red Cross Award at the 18th annual Heroes Breakfast at the Hotel Murano in Tacoma.
The event, sponsored by the American Red Cross Mount Rainier Chapter, celebrates “those very special individuals who personify the mission of the Red Cross and make Pierce County safe and strong,” said Michael Patton, chapter chief executive officer.
More than 20 other people or groups also were recognized at the breakfast.
Point Defiance Principal Olga Lay said Hansen has a reputation for showing initiative and spreading that spirit to her students.
“Kathy’s the kind of person who always jumps in,” Lay said.
Hansen credited her parents with raising her to think of others.
“They taught me to give, give, give back,” she said.
Hansen also praised her students and the Point Defiance Elementary community for pitching in to make the campaign a success. The kids raided their piggy banks and the tops of their parents’ dressers for loose change to donate to the cause, she said.
“Every day they would come in with Ziplocs full of pennies,” Hansen said.
What started with a penny drive evolved into an auction, T-shirt sales and donations from local businesses, Hansen said.
“It was just a rolling ball,” Hansen said this week about her efforts to raise funds for the defibrillators. “It was just awesome.”
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
Twitter: @TNTadam
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