“to hug a person who saved your friend’s life.
i still cant quite put into words what that meant.”

-Sarah Swanberg, Indigo Co-Founder

by Sarah Swanberg, Indigo Co-Founder

One year ago, my dear (and incredibly lucky) friend Melissa Fay was running on a treadmill at the New Canaan YMCA when she had a sudden cardiac arrest. This story could’ve ended terribly, but many stars aligned that night and Melissa is still with us.

Typically an outdoor runner, Melissa ditched her usual trail run that night due to the cold and rainy weather and hit the gym above the pool where her son was in a swim lesson. She was 15 minutes in to her run when her heart stopped and she collapsed.

Her next stroke of luck- her treadmill neighbor happened to be a retired ER nurse who didnt hesitate to come to her aid. He started CPR while gym staff retrieved an AED that they used to shock Melissa’s heart into rhythm. These quick actions, coupled with outstanding EMS and hospital care, are why Melissa has now made a full recovery.

Melissa is, as a friend recently exclaimed “a lucky mother”, and I’ve been honored to help Melissa launch an initiative to help get more people in our community CPR trained and put AEDs in local business and gathering places.

In the aftermath of Melissa’s SCA, our friends realized that one way to pay her good luck forward was to get CPR trained so that if ever we were in a position to help, we’d know what to do. Within weeks, we had several trainings set up,  including one for the Indigo team. These trainings felt like a wonderful way to honor Melissa, as well as the people who saved her life that night. And we realized that we could create a ripple effect…

On her one year anniversary last week, we celebrated Melissa with a party at Third Place by Half Full in Stamford by launching the Lucky Mother initiative, and to date have raised over $11,000 to purchase AEDs and set up CPR trainings for our community. It was an incredible evening and we were so grateful that some of the people who helped Melissa that evening were able to attend. To hug a person who saved your friend’s life.. I still cant quite put into words what that meant. We were able to present our first AED to Conor Horrigan, the owner of Half Full Brewery. The first of many AED gifts!

As we often say at Indigo, it takes a village, and we’ve been so grateful to have the support of two other local foundations, In a Heartbeat and More George. We’ll be hosting our first CPR training at Third Place by Half Full on Saturday, February 10th, 2024 from 10am-12pm and we’d love for you to attend. Register below.

Learn more about Lucky Mother and Melissa here.

Learn about In A Heartbeat here, and More George here.

Donate to Lucky Mother.

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