Baseball Player Magazine

It’s not often that you equate playing outside on the ball field with one of the worst tragedies a parent could imagine. It is a sad, but true story for Jill and Craig Levine and their eldest son Robbie.

On September 27th, 2005, Robbie Levine was at baseball practice when a sudden tragedy struck. Practice was coming to an end, the boys were having a relay race around the bases when Robbie collapsed. His father, Dr. Craig Levine ran to his side and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), but Robbie could not be revived. 

The Levines were told that an Automatic External Defibrillator, also known as an AED, could have given Robbie a chance to survive. With this knowledge, the Levine’s did their research and learned the importance and need for AED’s, especially in youth athletics.

As a result of the Levine's determination and will power, Forever 9 The Robbie Levine Foundation was created. The foundation was started to honor the memory of Robbie, a happy and healthy nine year-old who loved life; with the hope that no parent should ever have to suffer as they did. The mission of the foundation was set to spotlight the importance of youth sports programs having access to AEDs. The goal is to create the requirement that AED’s be standard equipment for all youth athletic programs and accessible in public areas. Forever 9 also aims at raising awareness for cardiac screenings for young children, as well as providing funding and financial support to help youth athletics in the purchase and training of AEDs.

The foundation had immediate local support and looked to extend their outreach nationally. The foundation created an informational DVD to tell Robbie’s story, the stories of so many others and show the importance of all youth athletic teams having an AED on site. In 2008, they received news that the outreach was working and the “Year of the Defibrillator,” began. The DVDs, a New Years’ Day Press Conference, and a piece on CNN News helped to get Forever 9 The Robbie Levine Foundation recognized nationally.

In its four and a half years, Forever 9 has done so much. In addition to creating the DVD, Jill and Craig have held four annual Robbie’s Run Fundraisers, hosted two “Dealing with Hearts” galas, donated numerous AEDs to several youth sports/leagues, and sponsored training sessions for proper AED use.

Robbie Levine will always be remembered. The foundation continues to raise awareness that sudden cardiac death, although rare, can happen to children, and there are ways that we can help to save lives. It’s been said that, “If we can put AEDs on the fields for our professional athletes, how can we not have them for our children,” and the Levine’s aren’t done making that happen. 

For more information, please visit www.RobbieLevineFoundation.org