Survivor: Mike Button
Date of Event:
Rescuer(s):Stephanie Button
An ordinary day. On Tuesday, July 19, 2022, at about 2:30 pm in the afternoon, Mike was sitting at his desk talking with his wife, Stephanie. Then, without warning, he told her he felt dizzy. Seconds later, he collapsed.
To him, the experience was instant and surreal. Like an old CRT monitor switching off, he remembers seeing a thin blue line of static blink out. Then nothing. His heart had stopped.
Immediate CPR
Stephanie tipped his chair over, lowered him to the floor, and immediately began CPR while calling 911. Though she was surely terrified, she remained calm, determined, and relentless. She refused to let Mike go.
Within minutes, the Palm Beach Gardens Fire Department paramedics arrived and took over. They delivered a lifesaving shock to restart his heart and used a mechanical CPR device to keep blood flowing. He was intubated on the scene and rushed to The Gardens Medical Center.
A Critical Hospital Battle
For the next two days, Mike remained unconscious. No one knew how long his brain had gone without oxygen. No one knew if he would wake up, or what condition he would be in if he did.
But he did wake up.
He remembers the strange fog of returning to consciousness. The breathing tube in his throat. The steady beeping of monitors. Wires and tubes everywhere. And then, most importantly, Stephanie at his side, waiting to hear his voice again.
A life was saved because she acted immediately, she knew what to do, and she did not relent.