Louis Acompora was 14 and the captain of the high school freshman lacrosse team in 2000. During the first game of the season, he blocked a shot with his chest. It was a routine move, yet what happened next was far from the norm — he collapsed. Coaches and trainers administered CPR. By the time paramedics arrived, however, Louis couldn’t be saved. Tragically, he died from commotio cordis, a syndrome resulting after a blunt impact to the chest, leading to cardiac arrest.

“We quickly learned that had a defibrillator been on the field, his life could have been saved,” says Louis’ mother, Karen. But at the time, no schools stocked these life-saving devices, she adds. So she and her husband, John, founded the Louis J. Acompora Memorial Foundation to ensure that Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) become staples where children are mostly at risk – at school and during after-school athletics.

Due to Acompora’s diligence, and with support from family and friends, the foundation launched a series of educational conferences and lobbied local politicians for legislation mandating that schools have on-site AEDs. The legislation ultimately passed and was signed into law in 2002. Louis’ Law mandates that all public schools in New York State be equipped with AEDs in their buildings and at sporting events.

But that’s not enough, Acompora says. More AED education and awareness is needed nationwide. She believes youth recreational sports coaches need to be trained in basic first aid and that CPR and AEDs should be mandated at off-school sports sites, as well. State by state, she’s prepared to continue her mission. “I’m going as far as I can,” she declares.