Greg Moyer’s final moments inspired his family's mission — and saved the lives of others.
He was only 15 and a high school sophomore when his heart stopped beating during halftime of a basketball game. There was no automated external defibrillator, or AED, at East Stroudsburg High School North. By the time paramedics got there, it was too late.
Greg — described as a ‘gentle giant’ who loved to play sports and volunteer in his Monroe County community — died of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The genetic disease is the leading cause of sudden cardiac arrest in young athletes.
Emergency room staff told the Moyers that an AED could have saved Greg's life. The Moyers had not heard of the device, which shocks the heart into a normal rhythm. But within days, they established the Gregory W. Moyer Defibrillator Fund, aimed at providing the devices at area schools.
Greg died in 2000. Gov. Josh Shapiro signed Greg Moyer’s Law, now Act 17 of 2026, this month. It requires automated external defibrillators at all PIAA-sanctioned athletic events.
“Twenty-five years, five months and 11 days until this law was passed,” his mother, Rachel Moyer said at an assembly at Notre Dame High School in East Stroudsburg last week, where Greg attended. “We want to have AEDs in the schools, so kids will feel safe and they'll feel protected. We don't want anything like this to happen to anyone, but especially a kid.”
Better chances of survival
Students gathered in the Notre Dame gymnasium last week — where Greg had practiced and had physical education class as a teenager.
His retired jersey, usually hanging in a frame in the hallway, sat on an easel next to a podium. The Moyer family and school and community leaders gathered to recognize the new law.
“What brought us here today is a traumatic loss of Greg's life,” said state Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-Monroe County, who worked alongside the Moyer family for more than a decade to advance the legislation. “Greg is looking upon us — I absolutely feel that — from heaven as his story continues to save others' lives.”
The American Heart Association estimates 23,000 children under the age of 18 experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital annually in the United States. Of those cases, 40% are sports related.
When an AED is used, approximately 70% of children survive cardiac arrest — seven times the overall survival rate for children, said Brad Cary, government relations director for the association.
To secure AEDs and raise awareness, Rachel Moyer worked with Victoria L. Vetter, a cardiologist in the Cardiac Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and medical director of Youth Heart Watch.
The doctor estimated that about one-half to two-thirds of Pennsylvania schools currently have AED machines.
“The Moyers weren't satisfied with the student who collapses having to be lucky enough to be in the right place that might have an AED, and someone who knew what to do and was willing to do so,” Vetter said during the assembly. “They worked tirelessly with multiple other parents and groups around the state.”
Saved at school
Four years ago, Steel Martell collapsed during a kickball game during physical education class in the Catasauqua School District.
The Moyer family’s advocacy helped save the life of the seventh grader. Staff of the Lehigh Valley school retrieved the AED and used it. Steel, diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and now a high school junior, sat near the podium last week.
“We are very thankful for this law finally being passed,” said Steel’s father, Kyle Martell. “It's certainly going to give kids a second chance at life, much like our son.”
At the time of Greg’s death, Kenneth Koberlein served as superintendent of East Stroudsburg, where Greg’s game was that night. The superintendent worked with the Moyer family to spread the awareness and importance of AEDs in schools.
Koberlein is Steel’s grandfather. East Stroudsburg now has 68 AEDs throughout the district, according to Rachel Moyer.
'Beat goes on'
Along with having AEDs present during athletic events and practices, Greg Moyer’s Law requires staff training and for schools to develop and rehearse emergency action plans for cardiac incidents.
The machines range in price from $1,500 to $2,000, and the state will offer schools the opportunity to purchase through a contract bid price. Grants will also be available.
Speakers encouraged students to become familiar with the life-saving devices.
“Take the time when you enter a school, a church, a restaurant, a fitness center, a municipal building, a hotel or a playground to see where the AED is and to know how to use it,” said John Moyer, Greg’s father.
Chris Rossi, director of athletic training in the East Stroudsburg Area School District, credited the Moyers with making children safer statewide.
“There is still work to be done, and as they always have, the Moyers will be leading the way,” he said. “You've changed Pennsylvania. Now let's go change the country. Greg's beat goes on.”
