Without Bob, I would not be here today

I went into cardiac arrest when I was 17-years-old while working at a local basketball camp. No one did CPR right away. There was no AED on site. Bob got the 911 call on his pager while he was sitting at his desk in the building next door working his day job. He came over to the scene, found me turning blue, and gasping. He performed CPR perfectly until an ambulance arrived with an AED. Without… Read More

Because they acted fast

On July 24, 2019 at approximately 1:00 pm, I was standing, talking to my fiancé and my heart went into ventricular fibrillation, sending me into cardiac arrest. I was clinically dead before I even collapsed to the floor. Tyler, my 13-year-old, called 911 and Debbie started CPR, saving me from anoxic brain damage. I am here today with my two sons and fiancé because they acted fast. I would like to… Read More

All because he gave me CPR

I was six months away from being commissioned into the Navy Reserves and 41-years-old. I was attending a meeting with my construction manager, Tom Farley, and the vice president of the company when I collapsed while answering a question. Tom caught me by my throat and put me on the ground. Immediately, he began CPR. The AED that arrived had a dead aftermarket battery! He resumed CPR. Then a… Read More

Thanks to Chuck, I am not an SCA statistic

On June 19, 2019, I was jogging to the local community gym for my normal morning workout, which would have been followed by a jog back home. That day, however, my life changed in a heartbeat or more nearly the lack of a heartbeat. I collapsed on the sidewalk, unconscious until spotted by an older couple who didn’t know what to do. Fortunately for me, Chuck Cooper was not working this day and was… Read More

Strength, focus and determination

My wife heard me gasping for air at 3 am in the middle of the night while asleep. She heard my last gasps for air and sprang to life. We cannot understand why SCA happens -- sometimes the smallest actions can be the difference between life and death, between full recovery and lasting impairment. My wife was supposed to be out of town at a bachelorette party and instead stayed home. She sprang to… Read More

She saved my life with her bare hands

It was the Friday before the kids got out of school for Thanksgiving break and I’d decided that since it was Friday, I wasn’t going to make the 20-plus minute trek to my office to work alone in an office that we’d been working towards closing for the previous couple months -- I’d just work from home. That simple, seemingly unimportant decision changed my life and the lives of those around me… Read More

CPR training for all!

While on vacation at a resort in Breckinridge—my husband and I had been there for a day and my son and his wife arrived for the weekend—we poured glasses of wine and all sat on the balcony to enjoy a crisp fall day! I took one sip and in mid-sentence with my daughter-in-law, I slumped over. She called my son and he immediately checked me and started CPR within a minute. He kept going for seven… Read More

Because of my husband's knowledge and skills, my life was saved

My family and I were on vacation in Maui celebrating my father’s retirement. After a wonderful day that I cannot remember, I went to sleep excited for what was to come. However, my husband, CJ Alexander, woke up early to use the restroom and did not fall back asleep. He heard me laying next to him not breathing right and being an assistant fire chief recognized what was happening. My husband… Read More

Marathon miracle

I’ve always been active. I biked 3,000 miles from Providence, Rhode Island to Seattle, Washington while in college, and ran the Miami Marathon in 2012 and the San Francisco Half Marathon in 2013. On October 12, 2014, at 29 years old, I was eager to run in my hometown race, the Chicago Marathon. After recording my fastest ever 10K, I got to mile 7, and wham! I felt as if I had been punched in… Read More

A perfect rainbow

My husband, Jeff, and I went to Chicago in September 2019 for the 50th reunion of his eighth grade class at Joseph Sears School in Kenilworth, IL. The weekend was full of events that culminated with a 2-on-2 hoop game among a few of the guys. The game was hosted at the home of a classmate, John Hart, who still resides in the community. The game started around 11:15 am.  Shortly thereafter, I… Read More