If you follow local and national news, you may remember the remarkable story of Karl Arps. The 72-year-old Fox Valley Technical College emergency medical services instructor made headlines when his students stepped in to save his life when he suffered a heart attack during a classroom training exercise.
Arps is living proof of the life-saving power of CPR. Against the odds, he’s alive and well thanks to the calmness, clarity and decisive action of his students and colleagues.
“CPR is very important, and the faster you can get at it, the better it is,” says Arps, who’s performed the procedure countless times throughout his life and career.
On Aug. 25, 2026, Arps will be recognized as the honorary survivor for this year’s CPR at the Ballpark. The annual event is held as part of a Wisconsin Timber Rattlers game. It brings together ThedaCare and other partners to teach and raise awareness around hands-only CPR.
When Arps steps on to the field that day to throw a first pitch, it will be with a spirit of gratitude for those who helped save his life, including his team at ThedaCare Cardiovascular Care and ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Appleton.
“The surgeons, the doctors, the nurses — everybody at ThedaCare was just 100 percent behind me,” Arps says. “Anything they could do, they did.”
Back to the Day
Arps’ story unfolded like a television or movie plotline. March, 25, 2026, was an ordinary day in the classroom, where Arps served as an adjunct instructor alongside lead instructor Traci Blondeau.
The class had just finished a test when Blondeau told Arps that three students still needed to run through a training scenario. Chest pain is always an easy one to do, Arps decided.
“I started the scenario. They interviewed me, took my vitals, asked the questions they were supposed to and got me on an ambulance cot,” Arps recalls. “Next thing I know, somebody was yelling at me to wake up.”
Arps, a Hortonville resident, would soon piece together what had happened. When he started the scenario, he felt a little dizzy but brushed it off. After the fact, he learned that as he was going through the exercise, his face constricted and he began gasping for air.
Understandably, Arps’ students were confused at first. If this was acting, it looked awfully convincing.
Blondeau came over, recognized the heart attack and sprung to action alongside the students. After calling 911, the group took turns performing CPR. They also applied the AED (automated external defibrillator) to help restore Arps’ heartbeat. Soon, an ambulance arrived and transported Arps to ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Appleton.
“Those three students and Traci saved my life,” Arps says of his colleague and students Logan Lehrer, Sofie Devalk and Ben Marsh.
Expert Cardiac Care
Teams were ready when Arps arrived at the hospital. “Everything was done with perfect timing.”
The cardiac catheterization lab was the first stop for Arps. The team tried to place a stent, but his arteries were too blocked. Arps would need a triple bypass as soon as his blood thinners cleared and it was safe to do so.
ThedaCare Cardiothoracic Surgeon Thomas Matthew, MD, completed the surgery four days later. On April 1, less than a week after his heart attack, Arps was discharged.
“Dr. Matthew and his team did an excellent job taking care of me. I attribute me being here to that,” Arps says of his surgeon. “He’s kind and considerate and told me exactly what was going on and what they were going to be doing.”
Building Back
After recovering from surgery, Arps entered the ThedaCare Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation program. The medically supervised program is designed to help people safely resume an active lifestyle following a major heart event, surgery, or heart or lung disease diagnosis.
With the help of the program, Arps has worked his way up to progressively longer and more challenging treadmill and elliptical workouts. He’ll soon graduate from the program, and his blood pressure and echocardiograms both look good.
Today, Arps is back to living his life, which includes time with family, golf, flea markets and travel. The joy and wonder of this don’t escape him.
“I’m here to teach again,” he says. “I’m here to love my wife and my whole family.”
Learn Hands-Only CPR
Looking back on his experience, Arps still finds himself in disbelief. “According to everything I’ve been taught, I should not have made it.”
He’s referring to the statistic that 90% of people experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest don’t survive. Interventions including use of CPR and AED can mean the difference between life and death.
“Karl was truly an amazing case,” says Callie Leahy, chest pain coordinator for ThedaCare. “He had an incredible team of students behind him whom he clearly taught very well. His students conducting CPR saved his life, which touches on the importance of learning this skill. Anyone in the community can learn hands-only CPR.”
Arps agrees. “Recognize the signs of a heart attack, and if you can help, please do so. The more people there are, the better the chance of survival.”
Follow two main steps for hands-only CPR. Step 1: Call 911 and get an AED if possible. Step 2: Push hard and fast, aiming for 100 to 120 compressions per minute.
To learn hands-only CPR from an expert, you can attend the event as part of the Aug. 25, 2026, Wisconsin Timber Rattlers game or check out these resources from the American Heart Association.
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