North Texas mom helps bring lifesaving training to local football league

World Restart Heart Day is this Friday. Today we're meeting a North Texas mom whose family's heart journey inspired her to help bring life-saving CPR training to her son's football league with the help of the American Heart Association as well. We say good morning to mom Brittany Newman and your nine-year-old son Lindsey. Thanks for being here both of you. Thank you for having us. We're excited. I'm so excited. I'm so glad you're here. So first of all tell us about Lindsey's heart condition and what he's dealing with. Yeah, so Lindsey has coarctation of the aorta and that just means that the main artery that sends oxygenated blood from the heart to the rest of the body is narrow. The aorta is narrow. So his heart sometimes has to work a little bit harder to pump and do the things it needs to, more so than a normal heart. But Lindsey, you're still, you're playing sports. You're out there going for it. What sports do you play football specifically tackle you like to tackle do you like playing football what do you like about it um it's fun it's one of it's one of those sports where you hit people it's not like a penalty or something yeah but I think as a mom especially a heart mom I have a child with a heart condition as well and I know the the first question I asked the doctors can she live a normal life can she play sports can she be active and clearly he's out there doing it but it has to still make you nervous on the sidelines a little bit yeah it definitely does make me nervous we make sure to get him cleared by his cardiologist before every season but we just want him to be able to do what he loves to do and play football even with the heart condition but be safe doing it yeah think about it the best player on the team has a heart condition that really does say something wait the best player on the team huh so it's not holding you back at all no actually I don't even realize it you don't even realize you're just living a normal life out there huh yeah living the dream thriving I would say so sudden Cardiac arrest is the leading cause of death for student athletes nationwide. Every second counts, of course, in those situations. You took some action, though, took it a step further, helping bring these Anytime Kits to the Mid-Cities Pee Wee Football and Cheer Association. What is an Anytime Kit? Yeah, so the Anytime Kits are kits that have tools and resources so that we can train and teach hands-only CPR and get AED awareness. The great thing about these kits is that we get to keep them and we get to have them so mid cities peewee football has made it part of our yearly coaches certification and that means that every year whether it's a return coach or a new coach new volunteer they're going to get that training on hands-only cpr and we're going to stay prepared year after year the kit comes with mannequins so they can actually do hands-on hands-only CPR which is great if you get to practice well and this is for all the kids on the field right not just not just for your son who has maybe a higher risk of something but I mean for everyone that's got to give you peace of mind yeah absolutely heart condition obviously puts them at higher risk but cardiac event can happen to anyone at any time and like you said earlier seconds count and so we want to be prepared to be able to respond Lindsay what does it mean to you that your mom did something like that to help you and all your teammates too. It feels good to me because now I know if something does happen they know what to do and it will get fixed and I bet the other players they're they're happy about it too because like their coach now knows what to do if something does happen so yeah it's good and I'm happy that we're able to work with them. Well you know you're an inspiration to me as a mom of a heart baby as well and I just love seeing how you're just out there doing so great. Do you have any any words of encouragement any message for for Stella for my daughter doing good you're doing good she is she's doing great all right well I'm glad to see you doing so well and uh good luck on the on the season and getting out there all right thank you both so much for being here and we have a link to the American Heart Association on our website as well we're going to check in with Allie Turiano now it's not quite a great weather to be playing football outside in this muggy muggy heat