Ethan King, now a sophomore at the University of Michigan, nearly lost his life at 18 during a group run in Burns Park, Michigan. A year later, he’s paying it forward by teaching other students CPR alongside the woman who saved him.

“I’m kind of paying it forward,” Ethan told ABC affiliate WXYZ of his near-death experience in August 2024. Since then, he and 21-year-old senior Hannah Stovall have launched Cardiac Arrest Preparation (CAP), a campus initiative that’s trained hundreds of students in life-saving CPR.

On Aug. 29, 2024, Ethan had just started his freshman year when he went for a seven-mile jog with the running club. Only a mile in, he stumbled on a curb. “For a minute he was conscious, but he couldn’t get any words out,” said Nolan Tribu, then a junior and social chair of the running club. “A few of us ran over to try and help. He wasn’t breathing.”

The students called 911, but no one knew CPR. That’s when Stovall, certified for six years, happened to pass by after playing pickleball. She began chest compressions as Ethan’s face had turned blue. “As I was doing compressions, we watched his neck and face go from that pale blue color to splotchy red. I remember hearing someone say, ‘It’s working, it’s working,’ ” she told WXYZ.

A passing hospitalist, Dr. Derek Dimcheff, also stopped to help. By the time Ethan was loaded into an ambulance, a couple of shocks from an AED restored his heart rhythm and he began breathing again.

At home in Virginia, Ethan’s mom, Carrie King, feared the worst when she learned her son was in a coma. “We wouldn’t know his brain function until he woke up. It was something I didn’t want to say in front of my daughter,” she told Michigan Medicine. “We almost had her stay home, but we wanted to bring her in case we had to make a hard decision.”

By Sept. 1, Ethan woke up, his breathing tube removed, and his memory intact. He received a subcutaneous implantable cardioverter defibrillator to prevent future cardiac arrests. “It’s hard to sum up the gratitude in words,” he said of the team that saved him. “It is really no way to ever repay that.”

The experience inspired Ethan and Hannah to start CAP. With out-of-hospital cardiac arrest survival rates under 10%, immediate CPR and AED use are critical. “The actual survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is less than 10%,” Ethan said. “So I got incredibly lucky that I survived.”

Dr. Kyle Gunnerson, an emergency physician, emphasized the importance of knowing CPR. “When a young athlete goes down, the first instinct is not to think it’s a cardiac arrest. But having the skills can help you feel less afraid to act if it does happen. Anyone can save a life by knowing basic CPR,” he said.

Dr. David Pinsky, director of the University of Michigan Health Frankel Cardiovascular Center, called Ethan’s story “remarkable.” “In a situation where minutes matter, Ethan has helped create a future of possibility, recovery from a cardiac arrest without neurological injury, for many others. It is a story of hope that inspires us all.”

“I’m kind of paying it forward,” Ethan said, a little blue face turned red, now turning into hope for hundreds of students.