Grace's Law

HOW ADVOCACY TURNED A NEAR-TRAGEDY INTO POLICY CHANGE

BY GREER FIRESTONE

On June 4, 2011, two days after Tower Hill’s graduation, my daughter went to her mother’s bedroom and said, “I don’t feel too good.” With that, she collapsed. Her mom dialed 911 and screamed for her brother, Grant, who had recently been trained in CPR. He jumped on his sister.

Providentially, New Castle County EMS was traveling just four miles from our home, arriving in three minutes. They shocked Grace nine times and performed intraosseous access — a life-saving emergency technique in which a needle is drilled into the shin bone to deliver medication directly into the vascular system and brain.

Her mom called me. “Grace had a heart attack. Get to Christiana.” At 1:00 a.m., we were ushered into a small room. A doctor got down on his knees in front of us.

“There’s a good chance we will lose her.”

This could not be happening. Grace had just graduated with 15 varsity letters. She was an elite athlete. No family history of heart problems. Of course she was invulnerable.

Grace was intubated for four days and given the “crazy ice” procedure to preserve brain function. Six days later she walked out with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).

Grace had suffered sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), not a heart attack. The latter is a plumbing problem; SCA is an electrical one. Without CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED) within 15 minutes, the victim either dies or lives with severe cognitive damage.

Think about, for example, pro football player Damar Hamlin. He survived SCA because medical help was on the sidelines. Grace survived because EMS arrived at our home immediately.

In 2014, we founded Heart in the Game Foundation to offer EKG screenings to Delaware students. Our events also included training in handsonly CPR and AED. That same year, Gov. Jack Markell signed the Grace Firestone Act for Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness. It was a start.

This year, we worked with Rep. Kerri Evelyn Harris and Sen. Nicole Poore on fiscal amendments to the 2014 bill, aiming to make Delaware the “Heart Healthiest” state. It became HB 71.

We were invited to Dover on March 18, where Sen. Poore announced a proclamation for Heart in the Game.

Testimony came from Rich Wagner and Stew Krug, who each lost a son to SCA, along with school leaders Tracy Todd Woodson and Nick Wolfe, Dr. Sean Connolly of Nemours, and advocates including Connie Malin and Seljuq Haider.

Our friend Thom Harvey connected Heart in the Game’s initiative with the American Heart Association (AHA) of Delaware. AHA advocate Lizzie Lewis of 302 Strategies and AHA Regional Senior Director Megan Tucker were instrumental.

On June 30, 2025, the Delaware General Assembly passed HB 71, amendments to the 2014 act with fiscal support, championed by Rep. Harris and Sen. Poore.

As Dr. Connolly wrote on Aug. 1 in The Daily State News: “The mandate will strengthen cardiac arrest preparedness at school athletic events and practices. On July 30, Gov. Matt Meyer signed this critical legislation into law. It requires that all coaches be trained in CPR and automated external defibrillator use. It also mandates that athletic programs have emergency action plans and have AEDs accessible at all school athletic events and practices. These changes represent a major step toward ensuring that our youth and their families — including student-athletes and spectators — have the best chance of survival in the event of a cardiac emergency.”

Grace went on to Sidney Kimmel Medical School and is now a doctor at UCLA Hospital.

We are thankful, but we still have much more to accomplish. We’ve only just begun to ensure Delaware becomes the “Heart Healthiest” state and a model for the nation.

Greer Firestone is the founder and director of Heart in the Game, LLC.