Court was in session yesterday at Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital as the staff and citizens teamed up with the American Heart Association for their “Cardiac Arrest” event.

From 11 a.m. until 1 p.m. citizens were brought before “Judge Heartless,” who was played by Hospital CEO Mike Marshall to post bail for the Heart Association.

Marengo County American Heart Association representative Shelly Buck said they felt this would be a fun event to raise awareness in the area.

“This is always a fun event to promote advocacy and awareness,” Buck said. “This is a national campaign that we have in some of our smaller counties and it has been a big success.”

This fundraiser, Marshall said, was a unique event which made helping a worthy cause fun.

“It was a fun event and it was something different,” Marshall said. “We have a lot of fundraisers in Demopolis with a lot of different types of events and this one offered something fun and different.”

This year’s fundraiser, Buck said, was the first of its kind in quite some time. She said the hospital and community responded wonderfully.

“We haven’t actually been in Marengo County in over a year,” Buck said. “Bryan W. Whitfield Hospital has been very generous in helping us and hosting the event here and providing food. Our Judge Heartless has also been wonderful.”

Te fundraiser, Marshall said, was a big success in its early stages.

“We did really well,” Marshall said. “We had a lot of people participate and I think there are several others who could not make it today that will send something in.”

At one point, Marshall said, they had raised $9,000. He said he was not surprised, given the generosity of the people of Demopolis. Marshall also said he expected to that number to rise before the campaign was over.

“I wasn’t really surprised,” Marshall said. “The people in this town really get behind things like this. There are so many charities in town and it seems like every year they raise a little more than the year before. We really have a generally nice group of people here.”

Wednesday’s event was not the final day to donate to the cause. Those who wish to submit donations may send them to:

The American Heart Association

Attn: Shelley Buck

1449 Medical Park Drive

Birmingham, AL 35213

For more information call Buck at 205-510-1523 or e-mail Shelley.buck@heart.org.