WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — Julie Walker has made it her mission to find heart issues in young people.
Her 19-year-old daughter Peyton passed away in 2013 of sudden cardiac arrest.
Peyton was a sophomore at King's College in Wilkes-Barre at the time, on track to become a physician assistant.
"The president of King's College called and let us know that Peyton was taken to Wilkes-Barre Hospital. We learned that day that we lost Peyton to sudden cardiac arrest. It was the last thing in the world that we had expected. Peyton wanted to work in health care, so we started the Peyton Walker Foundation so we could build a legacy for Peyton and so she could truly work in health care," said Julie Walker.
Nearly 80 families with children ages 12 to 19 signed up for a free heart screening clinic hosted by the Peyton Walker Foundation.
Students from the King's College physician assistant and exercise science programs were on hand to conduct screenings like an EKG.
"Last semester we took an EKG course, so this is us getting to practice it. Instead of practicing on each other, we're giving back to the community and are able to help them with the skills we've learned. So it's showing us we can make a difference," said exercise science student Jacqueline Costello,
National headlines have sparked awareness of the seriousness of cardiac arrest prompting families to learn the basics of CPR.
"A few months ago, we saw a cardiac arrest on live TV with Damar Hamlin and doing this we kind of if anything were to happen in that situation we could see what we could do to help our community," said Cassie Elgontis, Dallas.
"I've heard from a lot of families that they don't know what to do, and a lot of the time it's the children. Some adults might have taken CPR classes if they took parenting courses, but it's mostly the children that don't know what to do but anybody can do CPR at any age," said Paige Gould, 5th-year physician assistant at King's.
Peyton's mom Julie says catching heart issues at a young age is vital for saving lives.
Any abnormal findings from the screenings done at this clinic are then referred out for further testing.
"We do talk about that how do we measure success, 80 kids walking through and everybody is fine, yes that's a win and it's all a win if 80 kids come through and we find one kid with an issue," said Walker.
Families also received a nutrition lesson at the clinic, learning how caffeine and diet impact the health of their hearts.
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