Kai Lermer Memorial Fund Announces EKG Testing Events

WAUKESHA, WI—The Kai Lermer Memorial Fund announced two new dates for EKG testing in southeast Wisconsin, according to a news release.

The first event will be held on August 23 with plans to test 500 students from Waukesha West, South, Catholic Memorial and Pewaukee high schools. This is will be the first multi-school event and testing of this size in the State of Wisconsin.

The second event will be held at Waukesha North on November 11. Waukesha North helped choose this date to honor Kai’s memory and his Varsity number, #11.

Kai Lermer was a triathlete at Waukesha North High School who died unexpectedly at the age of 16 of an undiagnosed condition that led to sudden cardiac arrest.

Kai's family wanted to give back, so they started the Kai Lermer Memorial Fund in association with the Waukesha County Community Foundation to support the awareness, detection and prevention of heart disease in children, teenagers and young adults.

Kai's mom, Patty Lermer, is involved, as is Kai's godfather, Paul Ybarra. To date, the fund has trained more than 200 people in CPR and placed 14 automated external defibrillators in the city of Waukesha.

EKG testing was offered last August to more than 200 Waukesha High School students. The testing found that one student had a heart condition, potentially saving their life.

The Kai Lermer Memorial Fund will be hiring and training a Wisconsin staff to help with future EKG testing as members plan to expand this program moving into the 2022 school year. Anyone interested in a position to help with EKG Testing should contact the Kai Lermer Memorial Fund directly.

The fund awarded Waukesha North graduating seniors Mason Hauser on earning the Kai Lermer Spirit Scholarship and Kellen Figueroa for earning the Kai Lermer Inspiration Athlete Scholarship in 2021.

The Kai Lermer Memorial Fund has also been working on the Kai11 Bill with hopes to have a law in place prior to the start of the 2021/2022 school year.

The Kai11 Bill would place information in the annual WIAA packet with facts on the risk of sudden cardiac arrest in student athletes, giving parents and guardians the option to complete an EKG test on their children prior to playing sports.

The Kai11 Bill was fast-tracked in the Wisconsin Senate and passed by a unanimous bi-partisan vote. The Kai11 Bill is currently waiting to be placed on the Assembly Education Committee’s agenda.

Further delays could cause the Kai11 Bill to miss the deadline to be in place prior to the start of the 2021/2022 school year, the release said.

The Kai Lermer Memorial Fund is currently running a GoFundMe in honor of Kai’s upcoming birthday on June 16. All donations will go towards the EKG testing initiative.

Anyone interested in supporting the Kai11 Bill should call or email Representative Jeremey Thiesfeldt requesting the Kai11 Bill be placed on the next Assembly Education Committee hearing agenda.