John Hughes’ cardiac arrest (or “heart attack,” it’s to be determined) cut short the life of the beloved director of “16 Candles,” “The Breakfast Club,” “Pretty in Pink,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” and “Home Alone.”
Hughes, age 59, was walking in Manhattan when he suddenly fell. That’s the thing about sudden cardiac arrest — it’s sudden. In many cases, it comes without symptoms or warnings. It happens more than 1 million times in North America and Europe annually, according to the American Heart Association and the European Resuscitation Council.
As we wrote in “Celebrity no protection against sudden cardiac arrest,” cardiac arrest does not discriminate.
High-profile deaths, like Hughes’, Tim Russert’s, and others, are tragic but potent reminders that sudden cardiac arrest is a risk for the old, the young, the ailing, and the apparently healthy.
If you’re reading this and you don’t have access to an automated external defibrillator, let me ask you, “Why?”
And ask, won’t you email me for more information about getting an AED to protect your colleagues, loved ones, and maybe even yourself?
Last 5 posts
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- Sad stories, avoidable deaths? - March 23rd, 2011
- Texas school's AED saves 6-year-old's life - March 22nd, 2011
Thu, Aug 6, 2009 |
AEDs