Conner Shaw shares powerful testimony at Darlington Presbyterian’s Wild Game Feast
Story and pictures by
Melissa Thompson/The Dillon Herald
Darlington Presbyterian Church hosted its third annual Wild Game Feast on Sunday, July 26.
As always, the event lived up to its name, offering an incredible variety of wild game and homemade dishes while bringing people together for fellowship, great food, and an inspiring message about God’s grace.
The featured speaker for the 2026 Wild Game Feast was former University of South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw, one of the most accomplished players in Gamecock football history.
Shaw led South Carolina to 43 victories from 2010-2013, including five consecutive wins over the team in the upstate. During his collegiate career, he passed for 6,074 yards and rushed for 1,683 more. He finished with a remarkable 27-5 record as a starting quarterback, making him the winningest quarterback in Gamecock history. He also compiled a perfect 17-0 record at Williams-Brice Stadium.
His list of accomplishments includes induction into the 2021 University of South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame and selection to the 2025 SEC Football Legends Class. Shaw ranks among the top 10 in eight major South Carolina statistical categories, including first in total touchdowns and second in passing touchdowns. He was also named the Capital One Bowl MVP.
Shaw said his competitive spirit was shaped at an early age. His mother was a high school basketball coach, while his father coached high school football, the sport Shaw grew up playing.
Despite his football success, Shaw said the proudest moments of his life have been marrying his high school sweetheart, Molly, and becoming the father of four children.
Everything changed on Sept. 17, 2025.
While coaching his son’s 8U recreation football team in Simpsonville, Shaw began feeling ill just moments into the game. He recalled that he could no longer hear himself speaking and that his vision was beginning to fade with every heartbeat. After telling an assistant coach he would need to take over the play-calling, Shaw turned to walk away and collapsed on the field.
The recreation field happened to be adjacent to the Simpsonville Fire Department, where an automated external defibrillator (AED) was readily available. Off-duty firefighter and an off duty law enforcement officer immediately began lifesaving efforts. Shaw flatlined twice as first responders alternated performing CPR before using the AED three times.
After approximately five minutes of CPR, Shaw was transported to the hospital, where he was admitted to the intensive care unit and placed on a ventilator.
Doctors determined he had suffered sudden cardiac arrest caused by an electrical malfunction in the heart that sent him into ventricular fibrillation (V-fib). Although physicians have not identified a definitive cause, they believe severely depleted potassium levels may have contributed.
At just 33 years old, Shaw suffered the medical emergency while his pregnant wife and three children watched from the sidelines.
An estimated fewer than six percent of people survive sudden cardiac arrest outside of a hospital. Doctors later implanted Shaw with an extravascular implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (EV-ICD), a device designed to detect and stop life-threatening heart rhythm abnormalities.
Facing his own mortality left Shaw questioning his purpose, but he said his faith reminded him that God still performs miracles and that everyone deserves the same opportunity to survive a cardiac emergency.
That experience inspired Shaw to establish the Heart Huddle Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is: “Equipping communities to respond to sudden cardiac arrest. Glorifying Jesus through every survival story.”
The foundation works to place AEDs in recreational facilities, parks, schools, businesses, and emergency vehicles while also providing CPR education. Since its founding, Heart Huddle has placed 33 AEDs across South Carolina, including one at the Simpsonville recreation complex where Shaw collapsed.
Shaw emphasized that while AEDs save lives, they are only part of the equation.
“The device isn’t enough without someone willing and trained to perform CPR,” he said, encouraging everyone to become CPR certified.
One of the lessons Shaw carries with him came from his father, who often reminded him to “Leave it better than you found it.”
That philosophy now drives Shaw’s mission to make communities safer and better prepared to respond when sudden cardiac arrest strikes.
As part of the evening, Darlington Presbyterian Church presented Shaw and the Heart Huddle Foundation with a donation to purchase two additional AEDs, helping expand the organization’s lifesaving mission across South Carolina.
For more information about the Heart Huddle Foundation, including how to apply for an AED, donate, or register for CPR training, visit https://www.hrthudl.org/