On November 2, 1999, while catching a plane at O'Hare airport, I suffered ventricular fibrillation leading to a Sudden Cardiac Arrest and died. Fortunately there was a United Airlines flight attendant nearby who quickly started CPR. A young lady started performing the breathing part while he continued the chest compressions. A cardiologist was passing on his way to Australia for vacation and requested a security guard to bring a defibrillator. The AED was activated and after three shocks my heart beat and rhythm was restored. The security guard had called 911 and the EMS crew arrived after about 14 minutes. On the way to the hospital the paramedics had to use a defibrillator two more times to stabilize the cardiac rhythm. I owe my life to the AED used at O'Hare. It had only been placed on that concourse 10 days earlier.

Bill Schafer
Ballwin, Missouri

On July 16, 1987, I was called by friends to join in an after-work softball game against a rival law firm in Seattle. I accepted the invitation and during that game, at the age of 35, I unexpectedly suffered a Sudden Cardiac Arrest. The combination of effective CPR, an onsight "car phone" AND a Fire Station "right around the corner" are why I survived that inning, both physically and neurologically.

Just a few minutes difference in response time (and anoxia) separates the Mary Lyons's from the Terri Schiavos of this world. The anoxic brain injury that I survived made me unable to return to Law Administration, but in the last 20 years I've volunteered in various social organizations ranging from Home Hospice Care to Girl Scouts of America. My appreciation for this life has been profound as I've watched my children grow from ages 5 and 1 to 24 and 20, with both becoming valuable contributors to the world around them.

My experience with anoxic brain injury (and it's especially-unusual nature) has taught me humility in empathizing with the handicapped and those who are repeatedly exposed to ignorant prejudice

The number of survivable SCAs can change dramatically with an increase in education, intentional CPR training (and practice!) as well as an increase in the number of easy-to-use, onsight Automatic Cardiac Defibrillators within local communities.

I'm happy to support this organization and look forward to increased cultural awareness around the preventable disabilities and deaths associated with SCA.

Mary Lyons

It was late morning on May 11, 2000. I was doing my regular martial arts workout. It was sparring day, so I had all my gear on. It was the first hot day of the summer. I felt hot but OK until I finished my third round. I immediately became short of breath and extremely weak. I figured that I was just out of shape so I continued and finished the workout. Upon completion, I suspected something might be wrong with me. I drove home and stopped to get some aspirin in the extreme unlikelihood that I was having a heart attack at age 44.

I arrived home and called my wife, Ginnelle, who is a physician. She called 9-1-1 immediately. The paramedics arrived and as they hooked me up to some EKG leads I had a sudden cardiac arrest. The paramedics were equipped with an AED. I was shocked once and came back.

I was transported to a heart hospital where angioplasty was performed. My heart however was still having trouble. Heart muscle damage caused by my lack of immediate action had left me with some problems. I had a balloon pump inserted, to assist my heart, and remained in the ICU for 5 days. I was then moved out of the ICU and began a very long recovery.

During my arrest, I somehow dislocated and broke my right shoulder. The shoulder rehab was in some ways tougher than the heart rehab.

At this point, I am doing well. My heart has some permanent damage , but I am still here and trying to live a full life. My shoulder healed on its own pretty well. I am a very lucky man. I have been given a very precious gift. Being defibrillated gave me a chance to see my four kids grow up. They are now ages 19, 12, 11, and 9.

My wife and I have started AED Community Services in an effort to raise awareness of sudden cardiac arrest and the need for AEDs in the community. We are a nonprofit community based organization that provides CPR/AED training, education and awareness programs. We also raise money to donate AEDs to organizations such as police forces and schools in our area. I hope this will serve in some small way to help others get the second chance that I now have.

Tim Ries

Blue Springs, Missouri

Hello, my name is Charlie and I'm a survivor of SCA.

On the morning of November 18, 2003 we arose about 7:30 AM. We did our usual routine upon our awakening. Nothing out of the ordinary, just preparing for the day. After breakfast and a two-hour shopping trip we returned home and started putting everything away. I felt a little tired at that point due in part to a somewhat restless night. I told Sandy I would help her finish up after a short nap in my favorite chair.

Shortly after I closed my eyes I drifted off to sleep. Sandy continued to put things away. Then, a few minutes later, she had a question and tried to ask me, but I didn't respond. She shook me--still nothing. I was on my way out.  She also noticed that my tongue was darting in and out of my mouth. Her next move was to call 9-1-1.

Within minutes the police were there, they were the first to arrive. It was 4.8 minutes from the dispatch call to having the AED attached and activated. A single shock and in 5.2 minutes I was back among the living.

Time is extremely critical when dealing with Sudden Cardiac Arrest. I remember very little of the next few days. It all seemed so surreal to me as if I were in a dream. At one point early on in the process I asked one of the EMS people if I were dreaming. The reply was "No pal, this is the real thing."

On November 21, 2003, I became the proud owner of a quintuple bypass.  I then spent the better part of the next two weeks recovering in the hospital, and after that, on to rehab. That was over two years ago.

I will never be able to repay any of these dedicated and wonderful people, the police - the fireman - the EMS folks and the medical staff. But I would especially like to thank my wife of 42 years, Sandra for the life that they all gave back to me.

I am here today as an advocate and supporter of AEDs because a police car had an AED available and an officer trained on its usage.  I am fortunate enough to live in a city that equips all of its police cars with AEDs. However not everyone is as fortunate as I am.

Thank you for listening to my version of "Shop till you drop."

Charlie Butruff

SCA Survivor 11/30/2005

Rochester, Minnesota

Hi to all,

This morning I was driving to work when I suddenly realized that I was at the stoplight where four years ago today I narrowly escaped death. I was the victim of an SCA, and if not for the  grace of God and an AED, I would not be here today.

I try not to preach, (really!) but each and every one of you that I am sending this to I hold dear in my heart. I know it doesn't always happen to the other guy.  I know the importance of knowing what your blood pressure and cholestrol is. I know HOW DANGEROUS SMOKING IS. I KNOW HOW DANGEROUS STRESS IS. If you don't know these things, please find out.

I also know the imortance of early access to an AED. Chad, a Hampton policeman, had me hooked up to an AED in about three minutes. 95% of the people who have an SCA never make it to the hospital. My chances of survival would have been about 50% if it would have been five minutes....and if I would have had to wait for the ambulance that took over 11 minutes to get there, I hope you would have all made it to my funeral.

I survived with no permanent damage to my heart. I am only telling you all this again because I really want you to be aware of your hearts and AEDs. SCA is the leading cause of death in our country. That 95% death rate could be changed to a 98% survival rate if people had early access to AEDs. There is a national movement to get AEDs in schools, churchs, health clubs, malls--wherever people gather. I hope you will all support this effort. The next time you are at your church or school, take a minute to stop and think how long it would take for help to arrive if someone collapsed from an SCA. Then, think how impotant it would be to have an AED hanging right there on the wall. An AED that is so simple to operate a child can do it. And  so inexpensive that churches and  schools could raise the money with  bake sales!  Or, you could do like I did, search for grants and appeal to service organizations to help pay for AEDs. The sad truth is many churches and schools get an AED after someone has died, and they realize that person might have been saved. Forty-two people in this country die an hour--one every minute or two. If you have ever heard or known someone who dropped dead of a heart attack, it was probobly an SCA. These lives can be saved--we have the cure.

I'm almost done preaching.

Tonight, when you are sitting across the table or beside your loved one, or ones, think for a minute what you would do if that person collapsed. Would you know what to do if their life was in your hands?  Would they know what to do if you collapsed?   Even if you don't take a class, know what to do. Those minutes after you call 9-1-1 and before EMS walks through the door are the most important of all. What you know can save your loved one's life, so make sure you at least know something. Even if you don't take a class, which is something we should all do, there are some good CPR simulators on line. Please look them up.

OK, OK, I know I did go on a bit.  Thanks for reading this and being an important part of my LIFE!

Thankful and celebrating,

Mari Ann Wearda

Sheffield, Iowa

Thank you for forming the SCA Foundation and for this website. I survived SCA on 06-04-2005.

Jay Skinner

Middleton, WI

Hello, my name is Jim and I also am a survivor of SCA.

My SCA episode was 16 years ago when I was 42 years old while officiating a high school football game in the subburbs of Pittsburgh between two Catholic high schools. With about 1:30 to go in the first half of the game I was the back judge on a crew of officials and came up to cover a penalty flag that was thrown for a false start at the line of scrimmage prior to the punt.  While running up to the line of scrimmage from my position standing near a punt receiver I became light headed and collapsed right on the field. I never felt this coming on!

The visiting band was lined up on the sideline for their performance that night when I collapsed right in front of them.  At first some folks thought I had fainted from the heat because it was a very warm and humid August night.  But an alert band parent standing on the sideline knew something was terribly wrong when he saw my eyes roll back.  This alert man, Mr. Dozzi immediately called out to his wife Alice to hurry and come out of the stands and to try and help me.  Alice jumped over the fence and   so happened to be an operating room nurse at local hospital who had came that night to see her daughter perform in the band at halftime. 

Well halftime never came because Alice had to administer CPR to me on the spot.  After her CPR efforts failed and after five minutes of steady compressions she asked the Hampton paramedics who were on-site for the game "Do you have paddles in your truck?"  She said, "you had better get them fast because this man needs them!" 

After retriving the AED from their truck the paramedics delivered three seperate shocks to me until I became somewhat conscious.  Then I was transported by ambulance to the closest hospital for treatment where I arrested two more times in the ER.  None of this I really remeber that well. After I was intabated and somewhat conscious again I spoke to the doctor and nurses who were administering treatment to me in the ER when I noticed two priests had came to my bedside.  I thought they were there to administer my last rights.  They reassured me that  they were there to pray for me and were at the game and saw me collapse which then eased my mind a great deal.  That was one good thing about officiating a Catholic high school game Catholic priests are usaully in attendance.

Then the crew of officials I was working the game with arrived at ER and stood next to my beside and all had concerned looks on their faces.  I asked what were are you guys doing here the game couldn't be over because I knew I collapsed right before halftime.  They informed me that both teams, coaches, and their administrators decided not to continue the game.  They informed me the players, and fans were too shaken up over seeing me get zapped three times on the field by the paramedics using the AED, and decided that a life was more important than a football game that evening.

Later in the night from that suburban hospital ER I was life-flighted by helicopter to a Pittsburgh hospital where my Cardiologist Dr. O'Toole was called in to attend to me.  The next day I had a Cardic Catheterization performed only to discover ther was no significant blockage in my heart.  Next I was seen by Dr. Barry Alpert an Electrophysilogist (a specialist in electrical heart disorders) who was called in and ran some EP tests only to inform me I needed an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) because I had a significant arrhythmia condition where my heart beat was way too fast and resulted in my heart not pumpimg blood in a normal fashion. Rather my heart would quiver in my chest instead of beating properly. This disorder was a result of a heart attck I had three years before that damaged my electrical nodes in my heart that regulate it proper rythum.  In getting this ICD  device was something I never heard about, and at first I was very apprehensive about having a foreign object placed in my lower abdomen at the time.  Today, these devices are now placed in your upper chest similar to a pacemaker.

So I consider myself an extremely lucky person that I am still here today because of the efforts of a caring nurse that came out of the stands to perform CPR and a paramedic team that was on duty that eveing at the football game that helped save my life with an AED.  I can never thank them enough!

I am now on my fourth ICD in 16 years and have been shocked a total of four times. Each time I have been shocked it feels like someone whacks me in the chest with a baseball bat.  It is not a pleasant feeling to say the least, but if I didn't have the ICD device the alternative would be death.

I still volunteer at the hospital where I had my ICD device implanted when ever I'm called in to talk to patients who are apprehesive about getting an ICD and try to reassure them that they too can live a normal life just as I do today.

I do not do anymore on-the-field football officiating, and have since have retired to the press box where I am a clock operator for my hometown high school team, and also serve as an observer of younger officials.  So you see I'm still involved with a the game that I love a great deal.  But most of all, I have to thank my wife and daughter who stood by me in those tough times with their caring devotion and numerous prayers.    For all of this I am ever grateful!

Hi My name is Fred and I also am a sudden cardiac arrest survivor 1995 at the age of 47.

My wife is typing this for me because I also suffer from cerebral inoxia. I was actualy in a hospital in a cardiac wing when it happened to me. I was being prepped for a cardiac cath. After having the I.V. inserted I was left alone in the room with no monitors and the curtain drawn. All I remember was a feeling of passing out and my shoulder rubbing the wall as I fell back onto the gurney. My next memory was the sound of a single strike on a bongo drum over and over. Upon regaining my vision I saw a man on top of me pounding my chest, I could not feel it but each time he hit my chest I heard that bongo sound. I heard a nurse off to the side remark he's back and he should not be. I remember seeing the approach of the airway tube as it hit the back of my throat everything went black again. When I awoke it was three days later to the deep voice of my friend and Rabbi who was standing over me next to my bed with my wife. I had no idea what had happened to me. I coud not speak because I was on a respirator and the pain of breathing was unbearable. It wasnt until days later that I realized or was told that I had quintuple bypass. I was defribulated eleven times in a time span of thirty three minutes. I suffered cerebral inoxia, a stroke during the 10 and a half hours of surgery,  heart damage, and short term memory loss. My wife is still in denial.

I never returned to work, my full time job is keeping fit, which takes all my stregnth. I am  thankfull for the team that saved my life, I get to see some of them each time I go for a check up. I still get to see that guy that was sitting on top of me except from a much better angel.

Hi Fred, Thank you for sharing your story. We are very happy that you survived so many serious challenges. Welcome to our online community.
Mary Newman

I am proud to say that I've given up smoking a while ago and I confess I feel a lot better. My heart does not give me those jolts it used to give me when I was smoking, the air tastes different, even the food. Not to mention that my girlfriend really appreciates it, as she doesn't have to stand the smoke and the smell of tobacco all the time. Concerned as she is about health, she even bought me some generic lipitor to fight off the cholestrol. Thoughtful, huh? Anyway, I have no death wish and I certainly do not want to see others dying in front of me so I am passing the message on, take care of your hearts!

May 04, 2007. 6:04pm.

When a staff member asked could she go home (halfway into her shift) i Agreed, knowing she was having troubles with her bf at the time and she probably just needed time to herself, Even though this meant going to call someone else in, although my shift had ended. I walked up the stairs to the lockerroom 3 minutes before this young girl.

That 3 mins had passed, she walked into the lockerroom, my locker was open, and I was on the ground, blue... She screamed...

A fellow Manager of the Department store ran in to see what was going on, and he was 54, me being an 18year old girl it wasnt a common sight. I had just became another statistic to a young girl subject to sudden death via. cardiac arrest... Graham Meyer knew he couldnt let this happen, so he started performing CPR, while the young girl, called the ambulance...

22 minutes an ambulance arrived, well actually 3 arrived.. and in came the cavalry, after 3 hits with the aed, and 2 adrenalin needles i was coming around... but then the hard yards began...

My mum was notified, by my father, who was just outside my workplace when this happened and thought i was in there helping out!!! I was taken to TBH, a hospital in Regional NSW Australia, and i was packed in ice (To bring my core temp down) and enduced into a coma!!! I spent 2 days in this coma, and came around whilst i was in icu.

i spent 5 days in ICU, where my parents and partner were informed i wouldnt ever get any better than i had got (no walking,talking, feeding myself) so i was apparently destined to be a vegetable. But on my 5th day in ICU my sister was in my room, crying (shes 30), and i was just STARING.. what more could i do? and she put her hand on my leg and goes, "i love u sis" and i at this point ripped a feeding tube out, and said "love u too"... and thus began the looking up.. 2 weeks into my stay i was transferred to a larger better equipped facility, where i stayed for a further 2 weeks. in this time i had an IED Fitted (Pacemaker defibrillator) and then i got to come home to my darling bf who proposed the next night....

I will hopefully get my results this week as to what actually CAUSED my cardiac event, as its been haunting me.. its believed to be long QT syndrome. but im already luckier than any person i know, im alive and im happy.. what more could i want?

Hi All,
I'm a 39 year old father of one (3.5 year old), and here's my story:

The event was almost 3 weeks ago, and I'm still trying to sort through it.
I have an ICD now, and I'm waiting 2 more weeks to go back to work (electrician).

Fri May 2nd 2008:
I remember waking up @ 5:05am before the alarm clock went off, and having a short discussion about if the alarm was set, with my girlfriend.

Next thing I remember is laughing, and joking around with family members in Mass General's Critical Care Cardiac Unit, on Saturday morning (5/3/08), and wondering how I got there.

My GF had heard me snoring loudly/breathing funny about 20 minutes after we had discussed the alarm clock.
The noise was unsettling enough for her to turn the light on, and check things out.
My eyes were wide open, and I was struggling for air.
She had just taken a CPR class 5 weeks before, for her job at a day care center, and immediately started CPR, while calling 911.
The ambulance and firestations are both less than 1 mile from my house, so a firetruck & 2 ambulances arrived within 2 minutes.

One of the responding firefighters was my uncle (who had saved me from drowning when I was 10, so this makes twice).

The Firefighters & Paramedics worked on me for 15-20 minutes, my heart rate was 269 upon their arrival, and it took 6 shocks to get my heart to beat normally.
I was Intubated, and transported to Mass General.
My uncle stayed back at the house, with my son, till other family members could arrive to watch him (he didn't even wake up).

I was given a Chest X-ray, & a CAT scan upon arrival,
taken off med's for evaluation, then remedicated for a Cardiac Catheterization, and full body MRI.
They were hoping for atleast another day of sedation (mostly to not rupture the Catheterization) but I had reached the maxium safe sedation by 3am, and was still waking up/pulling at the tube.
IV Ativan helped help me sleep for a few more hours, till 6:30am, when they finally gave in & turned down the meds, so I could fully wake up

The whole day Saturday was hazy, but I remember bits & pieces.
My memory slowly improved over the next few days, and I'm probably about 95% as I type this.

I didn't have a heart attack, heart failure or any other reasons for the SCA, so Monday & Tuesday were spent with tests to try to determine the cause.

I've had Type I Diabetes for 29 years, but that wasn't seen as a cause, since I had no resulting heart disease (Cardiac MRI was 'unremarkable'), and I didn't have any hereditary disorders that could to start my heart misfiring.
Wednesday they put in an ICD, and Thursday afternoon I was allowed to go home.(6 days after the event).

I feel extremely lucky & blessed, and am not sure exactly how this event is going to impact the rest of my life, which is why I was searching around to see how others have dealt with it.
Like some here, no one has an answer why this happened, and it scares me that my son had a 95% chance of losing his dad.

Thanks for listening, good luck & God bless to all here,

Jimmy H,

Boston, Ma