'Giving pain purpose': FSU student-led initiative brings awareness to sudden cardiac arrest

Florida State University student Toluwani “Tom” Idowu passed away two years ago, at the age of 22, due to a sudden cardiac arrest while on a run down Chapel Drive in Tallahassee.

"On April 29, 2020, an atomic bomb dropped on my heart, blowing it up into a thousand pieces," said Cathy Idowu, Tom's mother. "Every single day since then until now, I have ached and pained."

But in spite of Tom's tragic passing, he is not forgotten by the FSU community.

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A $200,000 student-led initiative called the TOM Project – which is one of the largest student-funded projects on FSU’s campus – has been launched and includes the installation of more than 50 automated external defibrillators (AED) across the university's residence halls and academic spaces to prevent deaths related to cardiac events.

Cathy Idowu and her daughter Oyinda Idowu flew from North Carolina to Tallahassee to see the project’s first defibrillator installed in the Center for Global Engagement building Friday.

"I am so blown away," Cathy Idowu said to the FSU community as she spoke during the project's event Friday. "You're giving my pain and my family's pain purpose through the TOM Project."

The additional defibrillators will increase the number of devices that are already on FSU's campus (82) by 62%.

Along with the installations, the project, which was created by FSU’s Congress of Graduate Students (COGS), allowed up to 300 free electrocardiogram (ECG) heart screens to be administered by the charity Who We Play For, and signups were also made available to provide up to 1,500 students with free CPR/AED training lessons for certification.

“The TOM Project exemplifies how students can make a meaningful difference,” FSU's Vice President for Student Affairs Amy Hecht said in a release. “It is so impressive to see the collective energy of our student leaders to bring this important student health initiative together.”

Who was Toluwani “Tom” Idowu?

During his time at FSU, Tom double majored in creative writing and psychology, was on the university Dean’s List and was an avid runner. He also worked as a student consultant, liaising between professors and students to help learners achieve academic success.

Some other involvements of Tom included being a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity and leading Bible studies at Downtown Community Church and Westwood Church in Tallahassee.

“Nothing in his exterior would have given (his heart condition) away,” Cathy said. “He had the perfect build of an athlete, and no one would have imagined he was stoppable.”

Tom, who was a senior when he died, was awarded a Florida State Memorial Degree, which recognizes how he touched the lives of others and will be remembered within the FSU community.

Former COGS Speaker Chris Hagemeyer, the founding organizer of the TOM Project who was also a close friend of Tom’s through their fraternity, spoke at the Friday event.

“It would be an injustice to try to describe him in just a few sentences, but he was a really incredible and kind person that just had so many different facets to him,” said Hagemeyer, 26, a biomedical sciences doctoral student at FSU from Roswell, Georgia.

“He was athletic, smart, religious, creative, popular and as soon as he'd walk into a room, everybody would yell his name and get super excited," he added.

Aside from the implementations of the project around campus, Hagemeyer says the goal of the initiative is also to raise awareness about sudden cardiac arrest, particularly in youth.

TOM Project costs

Plans for the project began in spring 2021 when Hagemeyer realized that his role as COGS speaker gave him a platform that would help make the idea of the project a reality.

Since the congress had a travel fund of $150,000 that was unused due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the students decided to allocate all of the money to the project.

Nearly $50,000 went toward 28 defibrillators being installed in academic spaces on campus while nearly $100,000 has been put aside for the sustainability of the defibrillators over the next 15 years.

In fall 2021, Hagemeyer requested an additional $48,000 from the FSU Student Government Association’s Sweeping Committee, which grants funds to student organizations and projects. Most of the money went toward the 23 defibrillators that will be placed in the 17 residence halls on campus, and the remaining amount from the $200,000 project covered the cost of the heart screens and training lessons that were offered.

“Their leadership and allocation of COGS/SGA funds made this a reality,” Hecht said in a release. “The TOM Project is a powerful testament to the capabilities of our students to make a difference on our campus and beyond.”

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_. 

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida State University student-led project installs defibrillators