Ten-year-old Lucas Vetter is once again raising funds to purchase a LUCAS machine, only this time it’s for the Fowlerville Fire Department. LUCAS is a hands-free CPR device that is put on a person suffering from a heart attack prior to their being transported to the emergency room. It is hooked up to a machine that does CPR during the drive. The hands free feature allows first responders to buckle up for safety on the way to the hospital rather than having to operate the device.
The machine costs around $16,000 and due to that high cost not every department has one, or more than one.
In October of 2018, over a year ago, the Rose Township youth launched a fundraising effort to buy a second device for the Howell Area Fire Department after seeing one during a visit to the fire hall. His father was doing renovations at the building and had brought Lucas with him during a ‘Take Your Child to Work’ Day. While there, the boy saw the machine in the fire truck and asked questions about it. The firefighters showed him how it worked, which impressed him and prompted him to put together a plan to provide additional devices to Howell and other area departments.
Thus far he’s raised money to purchase four of the devices—three of them for the Howell Department and one for the Hamburg Township Fire Department.
With Fowlerville now next on his list, he and his family and friends are hosting a “Lucas for LUCAS” Fundraising Lunch at the Fowlerville Farms this Saturday, Jan. 25. A buffet consisting of pizza, breadsticks, and salad will be offered from noon to 2 p.m.
The cost is $7.99 for adults and $4.99 for kids, with 50 percent of each lunch that’s purchased being donated to the LUCAS fund.
In addition, a raffle will be held, with prizes given away to the winners and the proceeds also going to the fund.
Lucas is the son of Matt and Kerry Vetter and is a fourth grader at Holly Academy.
Fire Chief John Wright said that obtaining the device would help the department, so the fundraising effort is appreciated.
“We actually have a need for two of them,” he noted, “but right now we’re focusing on getting the first one.”
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