Source: Western News
When Danijela Jelich was 19, her father, Steven, died of sudden cardiac arrest.
“My dad’s death changed my life forever,” said Jelich, a biology major at Western. “In that moment, I decided to turn my pain into purpose.”
Since then, Jelich has been driven to raise awareness about cardiac arrest at Western, training hundreds of students in CPR and working to enhance the campus automated external defibrillator (AED) program – including raising money for the university’s first outdoor AED.
Jelich partnered with Campus Safety and Emergency Services (CSES) and Western’s AED Student Awareness Team to help improve access to AEDs across campus and support long-term cardiac emergency planning.
Last November, Jelich launched a SaveStation crowdfunding page to raise funds for Western’s first outdoor SaveStation, a weather-protected, monitored AED cabinet accessible 24/7.
“I kept getting ‘dings’ on my phone – one donation after another,” she said. “It was overwhelming, in the best way.”
Jelich surpassed her fundraising target, raising more than $13,000 – enough to install an outdoor SaveStation outside the University Community Centre (UCC) and an additional AED for the Ronald D. Schmeichel Building for Entrepreneurship and Innovation.
The UCC SaveStation and the Schmeichel Building AED will be dedicated in memory of Jelich’s father.
“I wish I wasn’t doing this because my dad is gone, but I know it’s a beautiful way to honour him,” Jelich said.
Read more at Western News
