A Plano mother is doing something good for North Texas young people in the name of her late son.
On April 2, 2009, Karen Schrah’s life changed forever. Her son Zachery was just 16-years-old when he died at football practice at Plano East High School. He had gone into sudden cardiac arrest and collapsed.
“He was 6’2’’ and an athlete with no signs of a heart condition. We didn’t even think about that as he played baseball and football. We just had no idea and it came very sudden. It was unexpected and definitely just impacted our whole community,” Schrah said.
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She decided to turn her pain into purpose. Schrah founded Living for Zachary in June 2009, just a couple of months after his death. It's a nonprofit that has impacted thousands of families and children throughout the state with heart screenings, AED donations, CPR/AED certification classes, scholarships, and awareness events.
“We are saving lives. We have saved lives with the AEDs we have donated and the heart screenings. Zach’s life could have potentially been saved had there been the same program in place for him,” Schrah said.
Living for Zachery offers heart screenings -- all for free.
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“We are able to be mobile with it throughout the community because of the donors. We are so excited about the Mark Cuban Heroes Basketball Center event we will be holding on Zach’s angel anniversary,” Schrah said.
Registration is open for the event happening on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. It’s open for kids 12 to 22, but kids 12 to 18 must have a parent with them to get the heart screening.
Visit their website for future screenings and to learn more about Living for Zachery.
