KANSAS CITY, Mo. — February is American Heart Month, and a Leawood grandmother who survived cardiac arrest thanks to her daughter and first responders wants to make sure others are equipped to help.
Kim White asked the city’s fire department to help her teach a CPR class Monday night. Firefighters volunteered their time at the Church of the Nativity.
The case of Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin shocked the world. During that January game, Hamlin collapsed and suffered cardiac arrest after a hit to the chest.
Medical professionals had to restore Hamlin’s heartbeat right on the field.
“We were frozen in time. We just froze for a moment,” White said. “It was, ‘This is happening in front of me,’ and I actually thought of my daughter and those 12 [first] responders.”
If anyone knows what Hamlin experienced, it just might be White.
“I was showing [my daughter] some pictures on my iPhone, and I said her name twice, and that was it,” White said.
Being instructed by a 911 operator on the phone, White’s daughter, Kristen Halpin, performed CPR until first responders arrived.
White says her heart stopped, and paramedics shocked her twice to get it started again.
Doctors told White if Halpin hadn’t done CPR when she did, she would not be here.
“It was really difficult,” Halpin said. “Probably one of the worst moments of my life, followed by one of the best moments of my life, because the first responders were able to revive her.”
“The word ‘miracle’ is something that’s not used in science very often,” White said. “And yet, doctors have said that time and again, that two things are miracles, that she was there because she saved my life, and it’s a miracle that I have my cognitive ability.”
Hoping no one else experiences this, White held that CPR demonstration Monday night. About 100 people participated.
Firefighter Brittney Youngquist was there. She responded to White’s call.
“This one little thing of a couple minutes of somebody doing [CPR] before we’re able to get there is exponentially just saving lives,” Youngquist said.
The Leawood mayor honored the first responders who saved White recently at city hall.
It doesn’t appear White or Hamlin will have any long-term effects from this, but the two are forever linked.
“We both live with grateful hearts, and we both know it’s all about love,” White said. “I can’t wait for the day that I might be in the stands and see him play again. He’ll come back.”
