ATLANTA, GEORGIA (April 18, 2023) Calling 911 and performing CPR saves lives, but when confronted with someone in medical distress, would you immediately act? Every second counts for one in cardiac arrest. Will you be that person’s second chance?
THE FEENEY LEGACY PROJECT, a non-profit advocacy and educational organization, launched on April 15, 2023, the date of the one-year death anniversary of the son of the organization’s founder, Kathy Armistead. Feeney may have had a second chance at life if those with him had acted immediately by calling 911 and starting CPR when he collapsed in cardiac arrest.
While the medical procedures of life donations were underway (Feeney’s contributions of organs, skin, tissue, eyes helped over two hundred recipients), Kathy felt called to action. The Feeney Legacy Project was born out of her son’s death.
The mission of The Feeney Legacy Project is two-fold: ADVOCATE for the immediate calling of 911 and administering CPR to one in medical distress and EDUCATE about the protection provided by the Good Samaritan and 911 Amnesty Laws to one who acts to save a life. Its slogan relays the simple life-saving message: BE SOMEONE’S SECOND CHANCE. CALL 911.
The April 15th launch was held at Decatur Legacy Park and was well-attended by those remembering Feeney as well as by the public interested in The Feeney Legacy Project’s mission. Decatur High School students along with Legacy Park employees helped with the event’s set up. A Free Little Library was unveiled, decorated with The Feeney Legacy Project’s logo and slogan as painted by local Dunwoody student artist Sydney Eckard. The library is located between the Wild Nest Rehab and Hawkins Hall in an area offering picnic tables. Attendees brought books to fill the free library, which is now open for park-goers to choose a book while replacing it with a donated book. The library’s books are branded with Feeney Legacy stickers. Feeney Legacy educational materials are available to the public about how to “Be Someone’s Second Chance.”
The Feeney Legacy Project has established collaborations as of now with Parent Heart Watch, the national voice solely dedicated to protecting youth from Sudden Cardiac Arrest and preventable Sudden Cardiac Death; Skyland Trail , an Atlanta mental health treatment organization; and the University of Georgia’s Health Services Center. These collaborations will help maximize The Feeney Legacy Project’s outreach to the public.
Founder Kathy Armistead’s heartfelt wish is to spare other parents from losing a child in the way she lost her own. “We must ensure that everyone understands the urgency in calling 911 and administering CPR, even if only chest compressions, to try to save a life and that these lifesaving attempts in good faith are legally protected by the priority of Life over Law. This message takes on even more urgency in the face of the fentanyl crisis, but young students and adults need to understand that alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs can cause cardiac arrest. Don’t walk away from a friend in distress. Act. Be someone’s second chance.”
To learn more about The Feeney Legacy Project, its upcoming outreach events, and/or to request a speaker or educational materials, visit feeneylegacyproject.org, email feeneylegacy@feeneylegacyproject.org, and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Kathy Armistead
feeneylegacy@feeneylegacyproject.org
404-406-7303
FLP Press Release April 2023
