MACON, Ga. — In 2013, 21-year-old Cory Wilson was sitting in his business class at Georgia Southern University when he went into cardiac arrest.
"CPR was not immediate, there was not an AED available, and his prognosis was poor," said his mother, Lisa.
From there, Lisa, her husband and their daughter all went to the hospital in Statesboro. She joined in on the CPR efforts until the doctor said Cory was gone.
"And I remember hands on my shoulders and I remember being moved away from Cory, and I don't really remember a lot more," she recalled.
Six years later, the Wilson family has traveled across the state, speaking to church groups, law enforcement, and other college campuses.
Their mission is stressing the importance of having defibrillators nearby and knowing CPR.
Wilson says her daughter, Morgan, was 19 when Cory died. Now she's a big part of their advocacy.
"When we realized what one of the integral parts was that was missing from Cory's rescue, we then wanted to do something to make sure it was not a situation that occurred for other people," Wilson said.
Pre-nursing student Tiara Robinson sat in on Wilson's presentation at Wesleyan. She says she knew only the basics of CPR from her high school classes.
Robinson says now that she's learned about Cory, she feels inspired to learn more.
"I think I need to take a couple of classes just to make sure I'm doing everything right," she said.
Wilson says at the time of Cory's death, Georgia Southern had eight defibrillators on campus. After his death, the school made sure to put one in every building on campus, including Cory's fraternity house.
Cory Joseph Wilson Memorial, Inc. raises money to donate AEDs to schools, police departments, and other organizations across the country.
To learn more about how to donate to Wilson's cause and read more about Cory, visit the Cory Joseph Wilson Memorial Inc. website.
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