When Longfellow Middle School in Fairfax County first offered CPR training last winter, three classmates weren’t sure how useful it would be.

“I’m not really going to use it ever,” said student Davin Lee. “I know this is important, but are we actually going to use this?” added his friend Raphael Loosen.

Two weeks later, the answer came suddenly.

During a Boy Scout trip, Davin’s father, Lawrent, collapsed.

“Everything felt surreal to me,” Davin recalled. “It wasn’t a good experience at all.”

As Davin struggled to process what was happening, classmate Avi Yoshimizu reassured him. “I just told him his dad’s going to be okay.”

Meanwhile, Raphael jumped in to start chest compressions.

“I just had to do something,” he said.

In situations like this, survival is rare. Nationwide, about 95% of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside a hospital do not make it. Lawrent beat those odds. 

“Without them, I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “It’s definitely the actions of my guardian angels that saved me for sure.”

For one Virginia family, the story carries an even deeper meaning.

Jennifer Griffin’s daughter, Gwyneth, was born with a minor heart defect. At 12 years old, she collapsed from sudden cardiac arrest at school. No one around her performed CPR in time.

“As Gwyneth’s parents, we live with that daily,” Griffin said. “Had someone been there, would something be different?”

Determined to change that answer for others, Griffin founded Gwyneth’s Gift Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding CPR education. Her advocacy led to Virginia requiring CPR training for teachers and high school students. The effort eventually began expanding into middle schools. One of the first schools to take part was Longfellow.

“We just learned that a week before in school," Raphael reflected.

Because of that training, a father survived. And because of Gwyneth, her story continues to save lives.

“All of that is in honor of Gwyneth,” Griffin said. “We continue in her honor.”