Pamela Lannom | Last updated Oct 15, 2025 9:14pm

I first met Kristy Brindley five years ago when I wrote a story about the Young Hearts for Life EKG screenings taking place at Hinsdale Central.

The preventative scans were funded by the just1mike foundation, named in honor of her son, Michael, who died from sudden cardiac arrest at age 16 in 2016, the summer between his sophomore and junior years at Hinsdale Central.

We've been in touch since then - usually around October, which bears the designation of Sudden Cardiac Arrest Awareness Month.

I spoke to her again this week because she had some good news to share. She's written a new children's book called "Looks Like You Need a Big Hug." The launch was announced on Oct. 7, which would have been Michael's 26th birthday.

Her inspiration for the book came while she was walking her dogs during COVID, when she would think about Michael.

"I distinctly remember, he was probably 15 or 16, walking down the hallway of our home in Clarendon Hills and him coming to me saying, 'Mom! Mom! It looks like you need a big hug,' and just wrapping me up."

Michael was a teen who was not afraid to show his love to family and friends. When Kristy decided she wanted to create a keepsake for the other boys in her family, the "hug scenario," as she called it, came to mind.

"I really felt it was a message that needed to be shared with all of us, with all children, especially," she said.

She wrote a draft, followed by many edits. Then came the time to hire an illustrator who could capture her son on the pages. She found Brendon Metcalf, an artist and educator whom she describes as a remarkable young man.

"He connected to our story. He connected to everything I wanted to do with this," she said.

Kristy said at one point she thought of creating the illustrations herself, but decided against it. She passed along her sketches, ideas and photographs to Metcalf.

"(It was a) really big effort for somebody else to create the illustration version of Michael that I would totally love and be happy with and want to share," she said. "We went through many renditions until we got to the version of Michael that I loved and that he loved."

Metcalf's attention to detail is evident in the Easter eggs he put in his illustrations.

"There are many little nuggets for our family and people who know us best - and locally as well - that are hidden in this book," Kristy said.

The story ends with a page where a young reader can draw and write about something that touches them.

"They get to finish the book with their own hug," Kristy said.

The book benefits the just1mike foundation, which promotes awareness and prevention of sudden cardiac death. It's available at http://www.bighugbook.com or on the foundation's website at http://www.just1mike.org. The book has been on sale now for a week.

"So far just1mike has its first royalty deposit," Kristy said.

While the book is not about the foundation, Kristy included some information about the nonprofit in the back of the book. She hopes it will help raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest in youth.

She is pleased that family and friends will have a way to remember Michael and that those who never met him will learn a bit about how he lived his life.

"Just having the chance to spread Michael's joy and love and especially his hugs in more of a universal message really feels important to me and just a beautiful way to share who Michael really was," she said, noting her son is loved and missed every day. "We just want to continue to share him."

- Pamela Lannom is editor of The Hinsdalean. Readers can email her at plannom@thehinsdalean.com.