At Lake Claire, on Friday at 5 p.m., the UCF and Orlando community will gather to show support for the family and life of Michael Namey, a freshman at UCF who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during a lecture class late September.
Namey was unable to recover from the medical incident after attempts of revival by UCFPD, EMTs and first responders. An outpouring of support followed shortly after, reaching an international scale from Europe to South Africa.
A vigil has been planned by close ones to celebrate Namey’s life and will also include a fundraiser, on gofundme.com, to ease costs on the family for putting their Knight to rest.
Candles, red rose stems and awareness bands will be given for any amount of donation at the event, where donations would go to the family of Michael.
Manny Ballestas, the first responder who attempted to revive Namey, organized the event along with the brothers of Theta Chi to “remember a remarkable human being” and “also to encourage everyone to go out and get CPR/AED trained,” Manny said in a post.
Ballestas met with the mother and brother of the engineering student the week following the tragic loss of their son to share condolences. The three discussed holding an on-campus vigil so that friends of Michael, and strangers affected by the loss, had the opportunity to express their grief. A nearby fire department has been reached and asked to come and teach students and supporters how to act quickly and effectively with hands-on CPR training in the event of an emergency.
The vigil begins at 5 p.m. and a moment of silence for Michael begins at 8 p.m. sharp.
Ballestas expressed his gratitude for the responses showed by UCF, Orlando and the international community.
“Thank you to everyone that has shown endless support. Together we could literally change sudden cardiac arrest statistics which in return will save lives.”
