Madison Falkowski has been on the field since sixth grade, following her passion for field hockey with the Electric Surge Field Hockey Club and at Greater Nanticoke Area Senior High School.
Now, at just 14 years old, she’s taking that passion beyond the field, partnering with Huddle for Hearts, a campaign by the Peyton Walker Foundation that raises awareness about sudden cardiac arrest and works to improve survival rates in young athletes.
This weekend, she organized a school-age field hockey tournament at Electric Surge Field Hockey Club in Kingston all to support that mission. Madison says, “A lot of people think that athletes because they are so fit, it won’t happen to them, but it actually is more likely because of the stress on their heart, so just being able to like if that were to happen on the field, support your fellow athletes because even if you’re competitors you’re all still playing for the same thing.”
Or for the same mission, true for these young athletes playing to raise money for an AED, an automated external defibrillator. Huddle for Hearts: CPR instructor Bill Odoms guides these student-athletes through a basic CPR training session using an AED. He says that through each event like this, the campaign can donate this life-saving tool to youth sports organizations, including Electric Surge Field Hockey Club.
Odoms says the mission began after Peyton Walker, a physically fit and active student at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, died from sudden cardiac arrest in her dorm room at just 19 years old. “So, the parents took it upon themselves to take that tragedy and try to help other families from incurring that same tragedy.”
Now, Madison, alongside her father Daniel Falkowski, is helping carry that mission forward. What started as a small tournament quickly grew into something much bigger.
“We got interest from the older folks, older teams that they wanted to do an open division so it ended up being a 2-day event,” says Daniel.
“My dad has been with me through everything, so you know, he’s been so supportive of this, and he’s always been there for me, so it’s nice having him alongside me for this,” says Madison.
She hopes to keep hosting events like this, continuing to raise awareness and help save lives.