GENEVA — Two young children, more like brother and sister than cousins, shared a nap on Easter years ago, worn out from candy and friendly rabbits with eggs.
Sandy Rumer’s heart melted like a chocolate bunny on a windowsill as she watched her daughter snuggle with her beloved nephew Kenneth Derminer. She took a mental snapshot of the two and moved on to cleaning dishes and other post-Easter dinner chores, not fully understanding how precious that memory would become.
Rumer’s life changed in 2001, when Ken Derminer died of sudden cardiac arrest during a football clinic. Rumer’s last holiday memory of Ken would be that Easter moment.
Now a board member with the Kids Endangered Now (KEN) Heart Foundation, Rumer and sister Linette Derminer are working to raise awareness and prevent sudden cardiac arrest from occurring in youth and athletes by providing Automatic External Defibrillators (portable electric shock devices that restore a proper heart rhythm) to local organizations and locations.
Now Rumer is taking her goal to the next level by running in the 26-mile U.S. Marine Corps Marathon in Washington on Sunday to benefit the KEN Heart Foundation.
“The problem is that we don’t have enough donations,” Rumer said. “We are a long, long way away from our $2,500 goal.”
To donate to the KEN Heart Foundation through Rumer’s run, go to www.giveforward.org/marathonsandy. Donations can be made up to a week after the marathon, Rumer said.
The 39-year-old mom said her family is very close and Ken’s death was devastating to everyone who knew him.
“I used to babysit Kenneth and his sisters when they were younger and took my daughter Amanda with me. Amanda felt as if Kenneth was her older brother,” she said.
Rumer said her memories of her nephew are infused with the natural joy he brought to every occasion, from “hamming it up” for the video camera, telling jokes, or watching him open his guitar on his last Christmas morning.
“How do you come up with a favorite memory?” she said. “(Kenneth) was special, funny and caring. His family and friends loved him. When he died, it was such a tragic moment in our family. You just don’t expect to be going about your daily routine and receive the news that your nephew died — that he dropped to the ground while doing some jumping jacks at a football mini camp.”
Rumer said while her family will never be the same after the tragedy, she is proud of her sister Linette Derminer and her family for pulling together to provide life-saving AED’s to help other “hearts in trouble.”
“My sister and brother-in-law didn’t mess around. They started this organization very quickly after Kenneth died,” Rumer said. “We struggled to make sense of his death and we never could, but knowing that we are being proactive and hopefully raising awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and placing AED machines in facilities where children and athletes are at risk at least gives us some satisfaction that he did not die in vain,” she said.
Saturday will be Rumer’s second run in the Marine Corps Marathon.
“I always had it in the back of my mind that I would run it again one day and it would be for Kenneth, and my sister and for every person out there who has lost someone from an sudden cardiac arrest,” she said.
Rumer said she hopes to finish the 26-mile run in 4 1/2 hours. She will run with a picture of her nephew pinned over her heart.
Businesses can sponsor a defibrillator for a local school or organization and individuals can also contribute by contacting Lisa Bruckman at 998-7896 or Linette Derminer at 466-0417. Contributions can be sent to The KEN Heart Foundation, P.O. Box 237, Geneva 44041.
For more information on the foundation, sudden cardiac arrest prevention, or AED units, visit www.kenheart.org. More information on heart defects and support for parents who have lost a child to SCA can be found at www.parentheartwatch.org and www.ncpn.org.
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