The Simon’s Heart CPR Jukebox Marathon is a 12-hour overnight event in which teams of 16 high school students take turns doing chest compressions on a ball — to music — all night long.
The format requires a second read: students rotate through the compression station while teammates play games, eat, and listen to music, keeping the cycle going from 8 PM on November 21 to 8 AM on November 22 at the WSFS Bank Sportsplex in Chester, the Philadelphia Union’s training facility.
It is the first event of its kind.
How the Simon’s Heart CPR Jukebox Marathon Works
The mechanics are deliberately simple. Pick a song from the Simon’s Heart playlist. Grab an air-filled ball. Push to the beat. The tempo of most pop songs runs at roughly 100 to 120 beats per minute — the same rate recommended for effective chest compressions.
The repetition is the point: do it enough times, to enough songs, with enough people, and the motion starts to feel instinctive. “Saving a life is serious; learning how to do it doesn’t have to be,” said Darren Sudman, co-founder of Simon’s Heart.
Teams of 16 register through simonsheart.org, where the team captain creates a fundraising page to share before the event. When a teammate is off the compression rotation, the overnight has music, games, food, and entertainment running alongside it. The event runs at 2485 Seaport Drive in Chester on November 21 beginning at 8 PM. Donations are accepted through each team’s fundraising page throughout.
The Simon’s Heart CPR Jukebox Marathon Builds on 21 Years of Work
Simon’s Heart was founded in 2005 in memory of Simon Sudman, a baby who died in his sleep. What was initially attributed to SIDS turned out to be more specific: Phyllis Sudman, Simon’s mother, was subsequently diagnosed with Long QT Syndrome, an arrhythmia that has been linked to SIDS deaths and that is both detectable and treatable. What Darren and Phyllis built from that loss is now 21 years old.
The organization has conducted over 20,000 free heart screenings; 139 of those identified potentially fatal conditions in children who appeared healthy. Simon’s Heart authored the Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention Act — the first legislation of its kind — which has now passed in 16 states and educated more than 1.8 million coaches.
Through GotAED, the organization has placed over 550 AED devices in schools and community spaces across the country. HeartBytes, a separate program, maintains the first digital registry of seemingly healthy kids and provides the data to researchers at no cost.
The CPR Jukebox Marathon is the newest fundraising vehicle for Simon’s Heart’s Philadelphia-area work, joining a local roster of health and community fundraisers that includes events like Jazz for Good, and high school students across the region can form or join a team at simonsheart.org.
It’s also the first time the compression-to-music concept Simon’s Heart has been teaching in schools for years gets its own overnight event, turning a lesson kids already know into something they choose to do all night, for each other.
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