By Samantha Kupiainen
Since founding Bolt for the Heart in 2010, Pierre Twer’s Carmel-based nonprofit has raised more than $5 million to purchase nearly 3,500 AEDs to place in law enforcement vehicles, sports facilities and elsewhere.
The organization raises much of its funds through its biggest annual event, a Thanksgiving Day 5K run. The 2024 race is set for 9 a.m. Nov. 28, beginning near the Palladium in Carmel.
“It’s grown into a really nice event that raises roughly a quarter million dollars a year,” Twer said. “It’s really become a family tradition for a lot of people. We get people registering four, five, six people at a time, and you can tell its families doing this year after year. People come up and say, ‘What a great family tradition we’ve started with Bolt,’ which really warms my heart.”
The inspiration to launch Bolt for the Heart came in 2009 when Twer learned his friend, cardiac and thoracic surgeon Dr. Walt Halloran, had started his own nonprofit in northern Indiana to purchase AEDs for police vehicles.
“He would do a big golf outing, and when it was all done, he’d raise a sizable amount of money and turn around and buy AEDs and put them in police cars in northern Indiana,” said Twer, president of Bolt for the Heart. “I asked him if I could do this in Carmel, and he gave me permission to do that.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, more than 356,000 Americans each year experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital, and nearly 90 percent of those cases are fatal.
Twer’s decision to start his own version of the nonprofit was solidified when he was running the Boston Marathon in 2010, and at mile 21 witnessed a man experience sudden cardiac arrest. He was later saved by a nearby medic with an AED.
“It was kind of an aha moment for us, and I came back from Boston and put together an LCC,” Twer said.
Twer works full-time in medical sales. Eventually, he hopes to commit more time to the nonprofit.
“It’s my retirement plan,” he said. “I plan to do this after I retire from corporate America, just keep building Bolt in Carmel. The city has been very supportive of us. We’ll continue making sure that we put an AED in every police car in the state of Indiana. That’s our goal.”
Learn more and register for the 5K at boltfortheheart.com.
