26-04-2025
Pea Ridge resident inspires new legislative change
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/FOX24) — After a near-death experience, Kennedy Allison, is now the inspiration behind a new law in the state of Arkansas.
The law, now Act 352, requires all schools to provide a cardiac emergency response plan, plus the addition of automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). The law will go into effect starting in the 2025-26 school year.
In 2019, Allison was just a freshman at Pea Ridge when she suddenly collapsed on her classroom floor and entered cardiac arrest. A plan was already put in place by the school district that allowed for faculty members to step in to revive her while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.
Kennedy's mother, Jennifer Allison, said if not for the readiness of the staff on hand, her daughter may not be with us today.
'They all knew someone had something heart-related based on how they had handled the situation. The school went on complete lockdown when they called for the aide. No one transferred classrooms. They executed everything as they had planned and as they prepared every year, and their professional development time in August. So, I'm so grateful for that,' Jennifer Allison said.
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After her incident, Kennedy was awarded the 2019 American Heart Association's Go Red for Women, which is given to someone who has overcome a cardiovascular incident.
Kennedy and Jennifer Allison were both invited to Little Rock to work side by side with legislators to produce the new bill. They were even present when Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed the bill into law.
'They were starting this work, the person here asked, could she share our contact information with their Little Rock affiliate because they would really like to use Kennedy's story in support of this legislation,' Jennifer Allison said. 'So, from that point forward, there was a lady down there who reached out, and we stayed connected over the past. I would say, I don't know, six months or so.'
Now a junior at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith, Kennedy plans on going into the educational field. She said that her experience would help educate the public, and she could potentially lend a helping hand to someone who may need the same lifesaving support.
'Now to have that plan in place just so like anybody like at my school that like I teach at later after I graduate or like students, faculty, someone visiting like they can be saved if something like that happens and it's already in place and everybody knows what's going to happen,' Kennedy Allison said.
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