EAST STROUDSBURG – For more than 25 years, Rachel and John Moyer carried a mission born from heartbreak.
On Dec. 2, 2000, their 15-year-old son, Greg, a student at Notre Dame Jr./Sr. High School in East Stroudsburg, died after suffering sudden cardiac arrest during halftime of an away basketball game. There was no automated external defibrillator (AED) available.
For the last quarter century, the Moyers have dedicated themselves to ensuring other families would not experience the same tragedy.
On May 22, 2026, surrounded by students, educators, lawmakers, and supporters inside the same Notre Dame gymnasium where Greg once played basketball, the family celebrated the passage of Act 17 of 2026 in Pennsylvania, commonly known as the Greg Moyer Law.
The legislation requires AEDs at all PIAA-sanctioned athletic practices and competitions and mandates emergency action plans and training for sudden cardiac arrest situations in schools.
“I’m feeling ecstatic because there was no way that I was going to do anything else until this legislation was passed,” Rachel Moyer said. “But I didn’t think it was going to take 25 years. We kept thinking, ‘This is going to be the session,’ and we’d get this close and something would happen. But it is a no-brainer law.”
Returning to Notre Dame brought back memories of Greg, whose photograph and basketball jersey still hang in the school hallway.
“It’s bittersweet, in a way, because he loved it here,” Moyer said. “The love and the spirit are still here.”
Former Notre Dame Principal Jeff Lyons vividly remembers the night Greg died and the impact it had on the school community.
“It was the greatness of the Catholic community that kept us together,” Lyons recalled. “We could get together, we could pray together, we felt like we were doing something. Greg was a great kid.”
Lyons said he was never surprised that Rachel Moyer continued the fight despite repeated setbacks.
“Most people would have ended it after hitting roadblock after roadblock after roadblock,” he said. “Rachel is tenacious.”
State Senator Rosemary Brown, who authored the legislation, credited the Moyer family for making the law a reality.
“As your senator and the author of the Greg Moyer Law, I am truly proud to stand alongside the Moyer family today,” Brown said. “They – and Greg – have been the driving force behind this legislation from the very beginning.”
For John Moyer, the law’s significance extends beyond requiring AEDs. He feels the training this new law mandates will be just as critical.
“Sadly, we’ve encountered dozens of parents who have lost kids to cardiac arrest even when an AED was present simply because nobody knew where it was or how to use it,” he said.
While the law represents the end of one journey, the Moyers insist that their work is not finished.
“We’re not going to stop,” Rachel Moyer said. “We’re going to let everyone know, from age four and up, what to do in an emergency and how to get assistance.”