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 MoreShe 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 MoreCPR 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 MoreBecause 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
All because she stopped
I was home mowing my lawn. My wife was on her way to a funeral. I don’t remember anything so this is what I was told. I was thankfully in my front yard when my SCA happened. I was laying on the ground when my neighbor and her two young boys drove by and saw me. Ewa jumped out of her car and ran over and saw I wasn’t breathing and had no heartbeat. She started CPR and yelled for help. Someone… Read More
He saved not one life, but two
I would like to nominate my husband, Kyle Hayes for the People Saving People Award. His quick actions not only saved my life, but our son’s life on November 9, 2017 after I suffered a cardiac arrest while 30 weeks pregnant. The day started completely normal and my pregnancy had been perfect up to that point. That evening, after Kyle, our 3-year-old son, Matthew, and I returned home, I carried… Read More
She is a true blessing
Altruistic, selfless, self-sacrificing, amazing and my saving grace are only a few words that describe my hero Sarah Van Roekel who saved my life. I am honored to nominate her for the People Saving People Award. My name is Ed Kosiec. March 12th, 2019 was a typical morning for me. I had run 10 miles to start the day and worked on strength training afterwards. I had been on a pretty active… Read More