Ella Burbige, a South Side High School junior, creates foundation to help save lives

South Side High School junior Ella Burbige has taken an active role in spreading awareness of sudden cardiac arrest among student-athletes, and ensuring that the proper equipment and training are available to save lives.

The danger hit close to home for Burbige when her good friend PJ Kellachan, a now 18-year-old Chaminade High School basketball player, suddenly collapsed on a basketball court while running drills with his teammates in December 2022. Kellachan fell to the floor when a seizure caused his heart to stop.

Assistant coach Bob Paul and athletic trainer Jorge Vargas saved Kellachan’s life by performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation and using an automated external defibrillator until emergency services personnel arrived.

The near-tragedy inspired Burbige to create the Heart and Sole Foundation, a student-run nonprofit organization that provides the training and equipment necessary to save lives.

“An AED boosts survival rates of sudden cardiac arrest up to 60 percent, and about 1,700 lives are saved each year in the U.S. by bystanders using an AED,” Burbige said, “so having one in as many facilities as possible is crucial in saving lives. There’s 30 million AEDs currently needed in the U.S., and since they’re very expensive, a lot of facilities cannot afford one, and that’s putting their athletes at risk.”

The average cost of a new AED device can be anywhere between $1,200 and $3,000.

Statistics show that one out of every 300 young people has an undetected heart abnormality, and each year, 23,000 youths suffer sudden cardiac arrest, making it the number one killer among student-athletes.

Burbige, who plays on South Side High’s Girls’ Varsity Basketball team, is also a member of the school’s chapter of DECA, a national organization that prepares students for careers in marketing, finance, business ownership, operations and management.

With the help of Peter English, a business department facilitator and lead adviser of the DECA Club, and co-adviser Gina Kadar, Burbige got the foundation up and running.

“Ella has shown how much she’s able to accomplish on her own,” Kadar, who has been Burbige’s business teacher for the past two years, said.

In November, Burbige was invited to promote her foundation on iHeartRadio’s “A Moment of Xen,” with host Xen Sams. The episode reached more than 2 million people nationwide.

She also created a website and an Instagram page to help spread awareness of the foundation, including a link to her GoFundMe page for those interested in donating.

The plan is for the foundation to provide free EKG screenings for student athletes, as a preventive measure. Burbige organized two free EKG screening events for students at South Side and the St. Agnes Cathedral School, with bracelet and donation card giveaways to promote the foundation.

“It was a great turnout,” she said, “and we even found some abnormalities in the screenings, so it was really important to get that started.”

Nurses, physician assistants and a cardiologist from Cohen Children’s Medical Center conducted and reviewed the screenings, and the participants were mailed copies of their EKGs, along with letters specifying the next steps to take.

Burbige also donated money for the purchase of an AED at the John A. Anderson Recreation Center in Rockville Centre, and provided the coaching staff at St. Agnes with a training AED. Most recently, she donated an AED to the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center.

Burbige is preparing for the New York DECA career conference, to be held in Rochester in March. Nearly 2,400 students from 90 schools statewide will participate in the three-day competition involving a series of business-related role-playing scenarios and case study events.

She said that she plans to major in business management in college and to continue her fundraising efforts to purchase more AEDs for the community.

“It’s really important for me to make a difference in my community,” Burbige said, “and to try my best to continue to raise awareness about this issue and get as many people involved as possible.”

Kadar described Burbige as the type of student that a teacher is excited to see on the roster. “She’s extremely bright, well organized, personable, articulate and passionate, as well as a really good person,” she said. “She comes up with solutions to real-world problems.”

For more information on The Heart and Sole Foundation, or to donate to the organization, visit TinyURL.com/HeartAndSoleFoundation.