Isabella Lohr has been in Girl Scouts for years. To get to the next level, she has to complete a 'Gold Award' project. Lohr picked a project that is near and dear to her heart.
"It's definitely more than something I feel like I have to do," Lohr said. "It's something that I want to do."
Lohr is honoring the memory of her friend, Dylan Dorrell, by organizing a 5K fun run called #runforDylan.
"I've known him since I was probably about 2-years old," Lohr said. "He was really kind-hearted. He had an open heart."
Get DFW local news, weather forecasts and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC DFW newsletters.
On August 13, 2020, Dorrell's heart stopped while he was at cross country practice for Guyer High School in Denton. His mom, Lisa Dorrell got the call.
"He said Ms. Dorrell, you need to get to the hospital. Your son has no pulse and isn't breathing," Dorrell said. "They worked on him for about 45-minutes, but they just could not get his pulse back."
Dorrell was 17-years old when he died of sudden cardiac arrest.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"It's been a long road," Dylan's father Gus Dorrell said through tears. "To see this little angel come in and just kinda say 'I want to help,' how do you say no to that?"
Lohr took the domain name runfordylan.com that was gifted to the family and built the website for what she hopes will be an annual 5K fun run.
"So through this project, I want his memory to last," Lohr said. "I want to help people get heart screenings so this won't happen again."
The family is also in talks with the City of Denton to try to have computerized AED (automated external defibrillator) machines at city parks.
"Every morning I just think 'one'," Lisa Dorrell said. "If we could save one parent from going through what we're going through, just one, then it would make sense of what happened."
"Obviously we can't help Dylan. We can't bring him back," Gus Dorrell said. "But the fact that we can help other people under his name is what's going to keep us going."
The #runforDylan is November 6. Lohr is still looking for sponsors and volunteers to help. For more information or to sign up, click here.
