Maxwell King, Latrobe, PA – 61 at time of event (November 1, 2006)

It was a chilly fall day in Pittsburgh. Maxwell King was walking from his home in the city’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood to a meeting of foundation leaders at the Carnegie Museum of Art. As president of the Heinz Endowments and chairman of the national Council on Foundations, he had a lot of things on his mind. His impending death was not one of them.

Bradford Summers, Orlando, FL – 49 at time of event (2008)

Brad Summers is a highly trained emergency flight nurse. It is not uncommon for him to emergently transport cardiac and trauma patients to hospitals designed to provide the highest level of care. He knows all about cardiac emergencies (Code Stemi’s), and knows the telltale signs.

It was April 1st, and Brad was at the gym exercising, when he realized he was in trouble. “I experienced sudden onset of left-sided chest pain, radiating up into the neck and jaw, and down the left arm, with left arm numbness.”

Kevin McCullen, Richland, WA – 52 at time of event (2008)

A nuclear hazard, a pet sitter and an anonymous bystander all conspired to save Kevin. Without the nearby Hanford Nuclear reservation, Brad Jackson, a hazardous materials training instructor, would not have been driving by. We don’t know anything about the bystander, except that it was their call that brought the EMTs. The bystander, however, didn’t do anything else! And the pet sitter? Well, she was able to identify the victim, by recognizing the dog of course!

Bob Palmer, Portland, OR – 65 at time of event (2008)

Bob had returned from a three-day conference on the Oregon Coast, enjoying the sunsets and luxurious accommodations. He had completed his usual daily walk around Mt Tabor, an extinct volcano, with his camera, and was eagerly downloading the pictures into Photoshop on his computer when he fell off his chair, face first onto the kitchen floor. The floor was not kind to his face.

Like so many of his age group Bob does suffer from high blood pressure, and had done for many years without any adverse effects. Until that Tuesday evening in July.

Stan Wisniewski, Chicago, IL – 24 at time of event (1954)

When Stan collapsed onto on the darkened radiology lab floor, cardiology was not yet mainstream, and defibrillators were mains powered. Drugs were revolutionizing medicine and antibiotics were used liberally, but surgery was king. And Stan is still here today because of those three disciplines. If he had had his cardiac arrest fifty years later he might have kept those two ribs and his left nipple. But he is not sorry at all. “Whatever happens, happens. We’ll make the best of it,” Stan says is his motto.