Cardiac arrest survivor shares story ahead of CPR event

The Compress & Shock Foundation is gearing up for its 9th annual CPR and AED education day Saturday, June 7. The goal is to save more lives.

The saying goes, “live like there’s no tomorrow.” That’s exactly what Taylor Monk is doing after being given a second chance at life.

“One day you’re here and the next day you could be gone. It’s an indescribable feeling that I just, I can’t get over every day,” Monk said.

Death came knocking at Monk’s door, at just 30 years old. What started off as a normal day ended with Monk going into sudden cardiac arrest while playing basketball at the gym with friends.

“Nobody knows why. Nobody still knows why. At the time, the gym I was in did not have an AED. So when they called 911, there just so happened to be a Christiansburg PD, like very close to where we were. They came running in with an AED and started the process of saving my life,” Monk said.

Chances of survival decrease every minute that CPR and an AED is delayed when a person goes into cardiac arrest. The survival rate stays around 10% for cardiac arrests that happen outside of a hospital.

That number just doesn’t sit right with Dr. Jack Perkins, who works in emergency medicine. Perkins has had to be the one to let a number of families know their loved one didn’t survive cardiac arrest.

“Almost every single one of those encounters, going through my mind, is what could have been,” said Perkins.

The motivation Perkins needed to start the Compress & Shock Foundation. The team travels around to underserved communities, teaching the importance of CPR and using a defibrillator.

“They don’t have the same access to CPR and AED education. They don’t have the same number of automated defibrillators. They’re going to have longer times for EMS,” said Perkins.

They make demonstrations even more relatable to some by using female mannequins and ones of color for demonstrations to show cardiac arrest doesn’t discriminate.

“We really want people to start thinking like, this is part of my community. This is my role as a bystander,” said Perkins.

Monk now feels called to bring awareness as well.

“I wouldn’t be here having this interview. So anything that I can do to try to help out the next victim is like, you know, ultimately, my goal, because I mean, I feel like I owe it to the next person,” Monk said.