Nation of Lifesavers Class: Kristen Walenga
She was making breakfast when her heart stopped. Her 15-year-old son knew what to do.
By Libby Ridenhour
On a Saturday morning in August 2019, Kristen Walenga was busy handling her duties as the team mom for youngest son’s upcoming football game.
She’d cut the oranges, filled the water bottles and packed the equipment. Now she just needed to feed her four kids before everyone headed to the game.
While making breakfast, Kristen collapsed. Right in the kitchen. In front of her two youngest children.
The boys – Sam, 9; and Nate, 11 – thought their mom was joking. Then their dog, Louie, began barking. When Kristen didn’t move, the kids quickly realized this was serious.
Sam called 911. Nate ran to a neighbor’s house to get help. The commotion made Kristen’s other two kids come running.
Rose, 14, called Kristen’s sister and restrained Louie, while 15-year-old Eddie rushed to his mom’s side.
Two years earlier, Eddie had learned Hands-Only CPR at school. That training gave him the skills and confidence to try saving his mother’s life.
Eddie began pushing hard and fast in the center of her chest. He was going strong when a neighbor – a former Army medic – arrived. The man admired Eddie’s resolve and was impressed to see that Eddie was giving such high-quality chest compressions.
Soon emergency responders arrived and took over the lifesaving efforts. Kristen’s sister arrived by then and gathered her niece and nephews in the next room, praying and waiting.
After multiple shocks from a defibrillator and nearly 20 minutes of compressions, a faint heartbeat was restored. Kristen was whisked away to the hospital.
Extensive testing found no explanation for why Kristen – who was 46, fit and otherwise in good health – had cardiac arrest. Still, just to be safe, doctors gave her an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, or ICD; the device delivers an electric charge to her heart if it falls out of rhythm.
In the months that followed, Kristen found herself asking one question repeatedly: What if Eddie had never learned Hands-Only CPR? That question shaped a new purpose.
As an educator herself, Kristen became passionate about expanding access to Hands-Only CPR training, making it a basic life skill. She pursued CPR education and instructor training and began advocating for broader implementation of community-based Hands-Only CPR education.
Today, through Kristen’s Heart Beats, she works to raise awareness about Hands-Only CPR education and support initiatives that equip students and communities with lifesaving skills.
Kristen often reflects on one powerful truth: a middle school Hands-Only CPR lesson saved her life. Her mission is to ensure more families have the same chance.
