Family donates defibrillators to Fort Worth schools in memory of teen

Ryan Powell dreamed of playing baseball for the University of Texas and then returning home to Fort Worth to teach history and coach football.

Even when shoulder and knee injuries led to surgeries that sidelined the Southwest High School student in his junior year, the teen worked hard at rehab and was back on the baseball diamond his senior year.

On Dec. 8, 2009, one day after playing a tryout game in front of college recruiters, Powell, 18, returned home, planning to attend a Southwest basketball game that night.

But inside the house, Powell was soon doubled over in pain, sweating and complaining of chest pains. He waved off his mother’s suggestion that she call an ambulance but agreed to let her drive him to a hospital to get checked out.

“I said, ‘Get your shoes and let’s go,’ ” Rose Powell remembered. “He walked into his room and just collapsed. They were never able to revive him.”

An autopsy determined that the main artery to the teen’s heart was blocked, sending him into cardiac arrest. He had no history of heart problems.

“He’d played baseball since he was 5 years old. He had a physical every year,” Rose Powell said. “Ryan never had a problem, never complained of any chest pains whatsoever.”

On Valentine’s Day 2015, Rose Powell and her husband, Rick, created the Ryan Powell Memorial Foundation. On Tuesday night, Rose Powell and foundation members donated four automated external defibrillators to the Fort Worth school board.

Money for the defibrillators was raised at a carnival at Southwest High in September.

The defibrillators, which cost about $1,600 each, will be placed at Wedgwood, Rosemont, J.P. Elder and Monnig middle schools.

Powell credits Laura Friend, Project Adam coordinator for Cook Children’s Medical Center, with helping lead the Powells into a way to turn tragedy into something helpful for others.

Friend lost her daughter, Sarah Friend, in July 2004 after the 12-year-old girl collapsed at the NRH₂0 water park from an often-undetected heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Friend later helped get legislation passed in 2007 requiring defibrillators at Texas schools.

But even with defibrillators, according to data collected by Parent Heart Watch, 83 Texas students have died of cardiac arrest on school property, Friend said.

Friend said she contacted the Powells after their son’s death to let them know they weren’t alone and to offer support.

Friend is responsible for training teachers and staff in the Fort Worth school district on CPR and AED use.

She said she applauds the Powells’ effort to put valuable tools in Fort Worth schools.

“I know it is more therapeutic and more helpful when you are helping the cause that took your child,” Friend said.

Friend said when defibrillators are used within three to five minutes of a cardiac arrest, a person’s survival chances are more than 80 percent. Without it, the chance of survival is less than 10 percent.

Rose Powell said the foundation decided to initially target middle schools after learning that most Fort Worth middle schools had only one defibrillator on their campuses.

Friend said often those defibrillators are kept in the office or nurse’s station.

“The problem is, can the coach reach it within three minutes and does he have a key?” Friend said.

With athletic teams and bands practicing before and after school, Powell said, she hopes to see the donated defibrillators kept in gyms and field houses where they are more readily accessible for students in extracurricular activities.

And the foundation’s work is far from over, Powell promises.

This year, the goal is to raise enough money to double the number of defibrillators donated to the school district. Powell said the group also hopes to raise enough money to sponsor free EKG heart screenings for student athletes.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Family donates defibrillators to Fort Worth schools in memory of teen."