Play for Jake Foundation: Honoring the Past and Protecting the Future

February Is More Than a Month—It’s a Mission

Honoring the past. Strengthening the present. Protecting the future.

February is American Heart Month, but for the Play for Jake Foundation, it is a powerful reminder of why this work began—and why it must continue.

The Past: Where Our Why Began

In 2013, our lives changed forever when Jake collapsed on his school’s football field from sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and did not come home. Like thousands of families before and after us, we learned the most devastating lesson: when schools are not prepared, lives are lost.

In the early years, our focus was on prevention and awareness. We brought heart screenings to schools, identified undetected heart conditions, and helped families get answers they never knew they needed. Those efforts saved lives and mattered deeply—but they also revealed a hard truth:  Screenings save lives.

Preparedness and policy save lives at scale.

The Work That Changed the Landscape: Jake’s Law

That realization led us beyond screenings and into advocacy. After years of education, testimony, and persistence, Jake’s Law was passed—marking a turning point in school cardiac safety in Indiana.

Jake’s Law established critical protections, including:

• Requirements around AED availability in schools

• Training and awareness so staff and students know how to respond

• Recognition that sudden cardiac arrest is a school safety issue

  
  

For parents, this law brought relief. For students, it brought protection. And for our family, it represented something we never had the day Jake collapsed: a chance.

Later, that work expanded to include Cardiac Emergency Response Plans (CERPs)—ensuring schools don’t just have equipment, but also a clear, practiced plan for what to do when seconds matter. These plans are as essential as fire drills, weather-related or lockdown procedures, ensuring coordinated, confident action rather than panic.

The Present: Protecting Progress

Today, Play for Jake stands firmly in the space of education, preparedness, and policy protection. Our work now includes not only helping pass lifesaving laws—but also defending them when they are threatened.

We continue to:

• Advocate for accessible AEDs within critical response times

• Ensure schools implement and practice Cardiac Emergency Response Plans

• Educate youth and adults so they become part of the chain of survival, not bystanders

• Remind lawmakers and communities that these laws exist because children have died without them

Every minute without defibrillation reduces survival by 7–10%. EMS response times often exceed that window. Schools must be ready before help arrives.

The Future: The Work Ahead

American Heart Month reminds us that this mission is far from complete.

Looking ahead, our focus remains clear:

• Safeguarding Jake’s Law and related protections so progress is never undone

• Expanding lifesaving education that empowers students with confidence and leadership

• Strengthening preparedness statewide, ensuring every school has both equipment and a plan

• Building partnerships that amplify this work beyond our foundation

Our vision has never changed: No child should die on school grounds because the adults weren’t prepared.

Why February Matters

February may shine a spotlight on heart health, but sudden cardiac arrest doesn’t follow a calendar. It happens without warning—at school, at practice, in our communities.

This month is our reminder to keep showing up. To keep speaking out. To keep protecting children through smart policy and prepared schools.

Jake’s legacy lives on through every AED placed, every plan practiced, every life saved, and every law that stands firm.

Thank you for standing with us—this February and always—as we continue this lifesaving work.

For more information,

please visit https://playforjake.org/