A Father's Promise: Love, Loss, and the Power to Change

A Father's Promise begins long before tragedy struck. George Laman's life was shaped by a tough Chicagoland upbringing, U.S. Navy service aboard the Presidential Yacht Sequoia, nearly forty years in the fire service, and a life devoted to raising four children.

Everything changed the day George's daughter, Lauren, collapsed during high school dance practice. An automated external defibrillator (AED) was retrieved but never used, and Lauren never came home.

George had saved countless lives, yet in that moment, he was powerless to save his own child. In the depths of heartbreak, he made a sacred vow: Lauren's death would not be in vain.

This powerful memoir follows a father's journey through unimaginable grief and the promise that became his purpose. Woven with personal testimony, faith, and civic action, George transforms anguish into advocacy--even while fighting his own heart transplant, stroke and lung cancer.

Today, CPR/AED laws in Illinois and Florida carry Lauren's legacy forward, protecting thousands of students each year.

This is more than one man's story.
It is a call to protect our children, honor those we've lost, and prevent the next needless tragedy.