Philly Jukebox Marathon puts a lifesaving spin on CPR training
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The Eagles' mascot swoop with students participating in one of Simon Heart's CPR events. Photo: Courtesy of Simon's Heart
Philly high school polo player Jack Forti didn't know he was putting himself at risk every time he picked up a 40-pound dumbbell — until a heart screening two years ago revealed a condition that made heavy lifting dangerous.
Why it matters: Sudden cardiac arrest claims about 10,000 young lives across the U.S. each year.
Driving the news: Simon's Heart is hoping to recruit hundreds of Philly students for next month's CPR Jukebox Marathon, an overnight fundraiser aiming to raise $200,000 for heart screenings and defibrillators at more Philly rec and community centers.
- Student teams will take turns performing chest compressions on red kickballs for 12 hours straight, learning a potentially lifesaving skill in a carnival-like atmosphere with food trucks to enjoy and masseuses on hand for participants who get sore.
Zoom in: Sudden cardiac arrest has impacted several high-profile athletes, including LeBron James' son Bronny and Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin.
- USC's training staff performed lifesaving chest compressions and used a defibrillator to stabilize Bronny until he could be treated at a hospital.
- After surviving the ordeal, he was drafted by the Lakers, where he and his dad became the first father-son duo to play together in an NBA game.
How it works: Teams are curating playlists featuring songs between 100 and 120 beats per minute, while participants take turns performing chest compressions synced to the music before tapping in a teammate for the next round.
- The rhythm helps students develop the "muscle memory" they'll need to perform chest compressions in a life-or-death situation, Jamie Abramson, Simon's Heart program director, tells Axios.
What they're saying: "We're hoping that in an emergency, they would step in and think, 'My song is "I Just Might" by Bruno Mars,'" Abramson says. "So if I just start singing that in my head, I know I'm doing the right beats."
By the numbers: The Conshohocken-based group has conducted about 20,000 heart screenings over the last two decades, detecting heart abnormalities in about 300 cases.
- Some required immediate medical attention, while others were more manageable.
Flashback: Forti, a senior at La Salle College High School, discovered he has mitral valve regurgitation — a condition that causes blood to leak backward through the heart's mitral valve — during a 2024 heart screening that his sister helped organize through Simon's Heart.
- Forti tells Axios his case is relatively minor and managed through annual checkups and doctor-ordered restrictions: no heavy lifting or CrossFit-style workouts that could put unnecessary strain on his heart.
One of Forti's family friends wasn't as fortunate: She died in 2022 from undiagnosed long QT syndrome, which can cause life-threatening heart rhythms, during her freshman year of college.
The bottom line: Forti says she'll be on his mind during the event.
- "I'm just super grateful for Simon's Heart for detecting this because otherwise I never would have known it existed," he says.
If you go: High school students can sign up here to take part in the Nov. 21 marathon at the Philadelphia Union's practice facility in Chester.