Meet-and-greet with Phillip Fulmer raises funds for non-profit

JACKSON, Tenn. — An event gave West Tennesseans a chance to meet and greet Tennessee Volunteers’ legend coach Phillip Fulmer.

Fulmer is most notable for his time as head coach of the University of Tennessee Vols football team from 1992 to 2008.

Throughout his time with the Vols, he managed a record of 152-52, including a national championship in 1998, which they won against the Florida State Seminoles.

Many revere Fulmer as one of the greatest head coaches to ever grace the university.

Thursday, he was invited to a private event hosted by Friends of Heart for individuals to come and meet Fulmer.

The money made from this event will go towards the non-profit organization.

“So my dad, who passed away when I was 20 from cancer and a cardiac event, he was a big, he just really looked up to Phillip Fulmer. So I have been raised with orange in my blood, and it was just a dream come true to meet him tonight. And he is just so nice and so kind,” said Christin Gray, a Nurse Practitioner at The Woman’s Clinic.

Friends of Heart is an organization with the goal of funding AED or defibrillator distribution with a new program called 4-Minute City.

This program will allow individuals to get trained to do CPR and properly use a defibrillator through a three-step training process.

These individuals can then be notified through text messages to respond to any incident within a mile radius where a defibrillator is needed.

“Now, the 4-Minute City AEDs are smart-connected AEDs that the 911, when they dispatch fire and EMS, they are also going to dispatch anybody that is within one mile of the incident. And we are the first city in the nation that has this technology,” said Caitlin Clark, the Executive Director of Friends of Heart.

Individuals that get certified to use the AEDs will be given identification so when they respond to a scene, first responders will know who they are.

The goal of the 4-Minute City is to have as many people in the city as possible trained and ready to use life-saving AEDs. However, the 4-Minute City is not the only project Friends of Heart is working on.

Clark said that Friends of Heart’s newest initiative is a youth EKG program.

The program will ensure student athletes, band members, and ROTC members in Madison County get a chance to be checked for abnormalities that they may have from birth.

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