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AED Donated After Tragedy Saves Student's Life

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Apr 9, 2008 7:13 pm US/Mountain

AED Donated After Tragedy Saves Student's Life

Reporting
Kathy Walsh
WESTMINSTER, Colo. (CBS4) ― A Standley Lake High School teenager is thankful for a friend, a police officer and a defibrillator after her heart stopped while in school Monday.

Lindsay Hayden, 17, is now in good condition at The Children's Hospital.

Both cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and an automated external defibrillator (AED) helped save Hayden's life, but it was a classmate and a police officer who made it happen.

"Everything together just worked as best as it could," School Resource Officer Dan Mayer with Westminster police said.

It was Monday just before noon at Standley Lake High School when Cameron Durand saw Hayden, his friend, collapse.

"I heard her gasp for air and then the second I heard her stop, that's when I knew something else was wrong," Durand said. "I knew it wasn't just a seizure."

Durand started CPR and got her breathing, but her heart had stopped. By then, Mayer was running into the room and somebody else, who had the school's defibrillator, right behind him. It took two shocks to re-start Hayden's heart.

"I don't think it's about anybody in particular saving her life, it's just everything came together," Mayer said.

Durand knows CPR because of his training as a lifeguard.

Mayer easily worked the defibrillator the school had because of a death of a student. Junior Dan Lunger died on the first day of classes in 2006 because of an undiagnosed heart condition. He was Durand's best friend.

"We were inseparable, really, I have a million and one good memories of him," Durand said.

After his death, Lunger's family donated the defibrillator to the school.

"You always hope that it never gets used," said Lunger's father, Dan. "You want to see dust build up on it on the wall."

But all were thrilled the machine served its purpose and saved a life.

"Dan really would've wanted this," Durand said. "I miss him everyday, but I'm so glad he gave us this gift and Lindsay is still here because of it."

Additional Resources

The Dan Lunger Memorial Fund is dedicated to getting defibrillators in schools throughout Jefferson County and the state.

Prepared for cbs4denver.com by Matthew J. Buettner

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

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