Staff photo by Jake Olson Fairmont Soccer Association Director of Competitive Season Billy Kiecker prepares to cut the ribbon on Thursday night at Jeffery Kot Soccer Complex, celebrating the opening of the new AED Smart Monitoring Cabinet held on the property and donated from various companies around the area.

FAIRMONT – On Thursday night, before the 2025 Section 2A Girls Soccer Tournament first round matchup between No. 2 Fairmont Area and No. 7 Wings United kicked off at 7 p.m. at the Jeffery Kot Soccer Complex, a new AED Smart Monitoring Cabinet was celebrated the installation by the concession stand on the property.

The sponsors for this donation were gathered by Terry Larsen, a resident of Mankato, who has been preaching the awareness for these AED machines ever since his daughter Faith passed away in 2022 due to cardiac arrest while playing basketball with her friends at the Maple River High School.

Donors include the Fairmont Soccer Association, the City of Fairmont, Devenish Agri-Technology, Day Plumbing Heating and Cooling, Casey’s and ADM.

The installation process started with multiple parties advocating for a publicly accessible AED machine to be displayed in one of the many busy areas of Fairmont.

The AED machine available at Maple River High School was stored in the activity director’s office and not accessible to the public during non-school hours. Faith tragically died a week later after the heart attack in a Rochester hospital.

“This was a senseless loss, and a needless loss of life,” Terry said. “She [Faith], given a chance, could potentially still be here with us. Not a guarantee, but she lost the chance by not having that available. But she was never given a chance.”

Since then, Terry and his family have made it their mission to help provide the same life-saving machines that weren’t available for Faith, gathering sponsorships through a variety of ways to fund this cause.

Terry’s works have helped place standard AED machines in the Maple River, Nicollet, Granada Huntley East Chain, Truman, Martin Luther, and Martin County West school districts. A Northrop church and the East Chain activities center were also positively impacted.

When Terry began to get bigger investments from local businesses, his mindset changed slightly. With the help of Rich Feneis, founder of Advocates for Health, a certified non-profit organization that aims to bring Public Access Defibrillation to communities in Minnesota, Terry learned about the Outdoor Smart Monitored AED cabinets they provided.

On top of providing full public access, the OSM AED cabinets hold training, posters, GPS tracking, and an AED Smart Monitoring system to always readily locate the device itself.

Former Miss Minnesota Emily Schumacher has also been a strong advocate in this cause, helping spread awareness and gather donations with Feneis and Advocates for Health.

“These were these outdoor, 24/7 AED cabinets,” Terry said. “They were heated, they were cooled, and they are cellularly linked. And I was like, ‘That’s what I’m talking about, that’s what I want to sponsor and push.’ The AEDs themselves are nice, but when you put them in a lot of places, after 5 o’clock, they lock the doors. And that’s where my daughter, she needed an AED, and it was locked up.”

Terry has since placed these OSM machines at Makato West High School, North Mankato Wheeler and Caswell Splash parks, and Welcome City Hall since connecting with Advocates for Health.

The next stop Terry chose to help share his cause to was Fairmont. While this location has meant a lot to him and his father years ago, it was the FSA that was in search of one of these new OSM AED machines for a while, hoping to add one to the Jeffery Kot Soccer Complex.

The current one in place is stored in the north side shed, only in use for any high school soccer games played by either Fairmont Area boys or girls clubs. The addition of the outdoor AED would allow public access to its services no matter the time of day.

On top of that, the complex has become a hot spot for residents in the area, allowing people to play soccer, walk, grill out, or simply enjoy the sights and sounds of the park.

“This is one of the most utilized parks in Fairmont,” FSA Club President Kacey Wurster said, “People come out here and walk, people come out here with their dogs, people come out here to even hit golf balls.”

FSA Director of Competitive Season, Billy Kiecker, and Club President Kacey Wurster were able to get in touch with Terry about this issue after learning about his mission. Using Terry’s connections and sponsorship ability, the FSA was able to gather enough money to finally fund an OSM AED machine.

The cost for the OSM AED machine itself is $9,000, while yearly maintenance and checkups for the product will be roughly $600.

This OSM AED machine will also provide Stop the Bleed kits and Narcan in case of any other emergencies in the area.

“I couldn’t be prouder to give this to Fairmont,” Terry said. “What I hope happens is, the city [Fairmont], the county [Martin], can take over. … It goes right on down the line, in Fairbault too. Blue Earth has two or three spots they can use. Hopefully, Martin and Fairbault County can get behind this.”