Photo/WES KELLER AMAZING SUCCESS: Emma Bryan holds the defribillator she raised money to purchase after she'd read about the hockey death of a Barrie youth, Chase McEachern. Looking on are Chase's father, John, left rear, and Emma's parents, Liz and Charlie. Also with her are, front left, firefighter Tim Burgess and ELGV Mayor John Oosterhof. A story about an 11-yearold Barrie boy who died during a hockey game was the impetus Emma Bryan, a Grade 8 student at Grand Valley District Public School, needed to embark on a mission to raise funds to buy a defibrillator for the Grand Valley arena.

"When I read that he died because the arena didn't have a defibrillator, and it could have saved him," she said. "I didn't want that to happen again, so I decided to raise the money so we could get one."

As a hockey player who plays on the Grand Valley Bantam team, Emma was affected by the event even though she never knew the boy who died.

"He was close to my age," she said. "Every arena should have a defibrillator there."

Emma began by contact the fire department and teamed up with Tim Burgess, the fire prevention officer.

"Emma is incredible," he said. "She put a lot of work into this and learned a lot herself."

Firefighter Burgess said the Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) Emma's fundraising bought is a great unit for the community because it's compatible with the unit the fire department and the paramedics use.

"She raised enough money to purchase the unit, a training unit and training for six employees at the arena," he said.

Mr. Burgess said the company that supplies the defibrillators, Laerdal Canada, were very generous on the price because they too were inspired by Emma's fundraising goal.

"Everyone we met with gave Emma their full support," Mr. Burgess said.

Emma's goal initially was to raise $3,500 and the through the campaign, which began last fall, Emma raised $4,000 in total.

"Everyone was so generous and I wouldn't have been able to get the defibrillator without all of the people who helped me," Emma said.

Chase McEachren, an 11- year-old boy who loved to play hockey, was being monitored for a heart condition called an arterial flutter. He was inspired by hockey greats Jiri Fischer and Mario Lemieux, who also suffer from heart conditions.

He started a campaign to make defibrillators mandatory in arenas and schools everywhere because he knew the problems that could arise.

Last October, Chase collapsed during a gym class and died six days later. In his honour, the Heart and Stroke Foundation began the Chase McEachren Tribute Fund.

Following is a list of the local donors to date: Grand Valley Lions Club, Thomas Field Homes, Grand Valley Fireside Club, Paul Walker Trucking, The Maples Women's Institute, Deckers Tire Service, Bryhome Farms, Northridge Homes Ltd., Bill Bus, Jeff Menzies, Silverdale Motors, Judy and Paul Barclay, Amaranth Aggregates, Greenwood Haulage, Grand Valley Lifeskills 4-H club, Accent Safety, High-Performance Hockey School, the teachers at Grand Valley District Public School, Bev and Bill Poland, Elsie and Les Soloman, Colleen Egan and Willie Brown, Joanne Palys, Jim Dunn, Jan and and Hames Scheurwater, Lynda Hamilton, Betty Bryan, Dott and Joe McPherson, Wayne and Wanda White, Sandra Bryan, Terri-Lynn and Tim Burgess, David Grant, Jim Shaw and Brian Cook.