UCF waiving first aid fees after student's death
ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - The tragic death of a University of Central Florida freshman has one student sending out a plea to all students: learn CPR. Most of the students we spoke to on campus Wednesday evening were well aware of the untimely death of freshman Michael Namey.
Late Monday morning, UCF campus police received a 911 call reporting that an 18-year-old student had a seizure in a precalculus class. According to a spokeswoman for campus police, officers arrived a mere minute later, and when they did, they found two students -- one a lifeguard and the other a paramedic -- already performing CPR. Campus police then twice used an automated external defibrillator, or AED. Namey was rushed to the hospital where he died, according to UCF officials.
One of the two students who tried to save Namey, Manny Balestas, is a trained first responder who wrote this open letter to Namey's family on his Facebook page (see lnk below). In short, he apologizes to them for not being able to save Michael. Then, he makes a plea to everyone else to learn CPR and AED skills. Students we spoke to agree.
Ballestas also vowed in that letter to become a politician one day and somehow honor Michael's short life by spreading the word about the importance of CPR training.