‘Why us?’ turned into quest for grieving mom

EVERETT – One year ago, Jill Frisk was asking the unanswerable question many grieving mothers do.

Her 5-year-old daughter, Julia, had died of sudden cardiac arrest on Feb. 24, 2005, while at a child care center in Lake Stevens.

“I remember writing a letter the day after she died and asking, ‘Why? Why her? Why us?’” Frisk said.

She soon started channeling that grief into a nonprofit foundation dedicated to providing automatic external defibrillators in schools, businesses and other public places.

“It helps me, because I’m just so mad,” Frisk said. “I wanted to make a difference in someone’s life.”

The group she founded, Julia’s Gardens Heart Foundation, now has $180,000 in grants, plus profits from Frisk’s skin-care products business, Alcamia.

The foundation has moved into a 7,000-square-foot office and warehouse in Everett and will have an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. today at 3109 McDougall Ave.

Life is busy in the Frisk family these days. The open house was planned for the one-year anniversary of Julia’s death, but a new development caused them to postpone it.

Frisk, 37, gave birth to a son, Jared, Feb. 20.

Three weeks later, Jared joined his mother, grandmother and other friends at the new office as they prepared for the open house.

“He’s already part of the crew,” Frisk said. “We were fortunate it was even an option to have another baby.”

The foundation’s work with automatic defibrillators has given area residents new resources to save cardiac arrest victims young and old.

If a school district, business, church or other facility doesn’t have a defibrillator, the foundation can provide one at a discount, with training, for $1,900.

The machines increase the chances of surviving cardiac arrest. Many victims die despite quick response from paramedics. The first minutes are crucial.

“Defibrillation really needs to happen within the first three minutes,” Frisk said.

The foundation also can find ways to raise the money for groups that can’t afford defibrillators.

“If someone’s life is saved because of what we provided, I don’t care who paid for it,” Frisk said.

People also can take advantage of the new office, which has educational materials, videos and a room for first-aid classes.

Frisk’s goals are ambitious. She started locally, getting defibrillators in dozens of buildings in Lake Stevens.

Next, she plans to shift to Snohomish and gradually work her way outward.

Frisk’s not thinking small. She already has a file cabinet with data on every school district in the state.

She is driven by the feeling that she could have done more to protect Julia. Frisk and her husband, Rick, also have a 3-year-old, Kayla.

“It’s very hard on the family,” Frisk said.

Staying busy with a mission for others to avoid her family’s nightmare helps Frisk cope.

“I would do anything I could to save another child,” Frisk said. “I know what it was like to go to bed and not kiss your daughter goodnight.”

Reporter Scott Morris: 425-339-3292 or smorris@heraldnet.com.