SEATTLE -- A beating heart is something many of us take for granted.
It was right after racquetball, when the one in Dave Carlstrom's chest suddenly quit.
"Sitting down on the bench, as is our usual custom to catch a breath, putting away the gear, and suddenly feeling a profound sense of unwellness," said Carlstrom.
His racquetball partner, Leo Muller, remembers seeing him slide to the floor.
"Then I saw his face turn purple, and some convulsions, not massive but enough to realize 'Ok. Something is clearly wrong,'" said Muller.
Muller went for help. Doctors later told Carlstrom he was dead.
"This was fundamentally an electrical failure," said Carlstrom.
All of this was happening at the L.A. Fitness in Ballard, where flight attendant Page Huletz was working out.
"Every other year as a flight attendant, we do AED and CPR training," said Huletz.
That training would save Carlstrom's life. As health club staff started CPR, Huletz grabbed the automatic external defibrillator, or AED.
"Right away we shocked him, his body comes up off the floor, and then the shock is absorbed and he took his first breath, and that was a miracle right there," said Huletz.
Carlstrom suffered sudden cardiac arrest with just a ten percent chance of survival. But that goes up to 80 percent with access to a portable defibrillator.
After five days in the hospital, Carlstrom now has a implanted defibrillator in his chest. He's grateful to Huletz, to club staff and to the firefighters who all helped bring him back to life.
Muller, his friend of 30 years, now has a resolution.
"I'm signing up for CPR because I felt helpless," said Muller. "I realized I need to know what to do in a situation like that."
The American Red Cross offers First Aid, CPR and AED training. Learn more at this link.
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