Go Red for Women

Dan Rolfes had just coached his girls’ high school basketball team to a state semifinal win. But what he felt in the locker room wasn’t the usual excitement and jitters that come with a title run. He told his wife, Lisa, he thought something was wrong.

Minutes later, Dan slumped over in the car. His lips were turning blue. He wasn’t breathing. His heart had stopped.

His daughter Kate called 911. His wife, Lisa, started CPR and shocked his heart with an AED an assistant coach located nearby. Paramedics arrived a few minutes later. They worked on him for around 30 minutes before getting a sustained rhythm. In the emergency room, medical staff determined Dan’s cardiac arrest was triggered by a heart attack.

While Dan fought for his life in the hospital, his team played for the state title and won. His daughter filled in as coach.

Dan’s battle would continue throughout the summer. His kidneys failed, requiring him to go on dialysis. He also had to learn how to walk again. When he was strong enough, doctors gave him an implantable cardioverter defibrillator, or ICD, to shock his heart if it were to start beating dangerously fast.

In November, he returned to the basketball court for the start of the season, coaching his team to another state title in the same arena where Dan had his heart attack.

“Our players were super nervous, and honestly so was I,” said Dan, who had Kate and Lisa by his side. “But that win was a full-circle moment for me and the girls.”

“I was so fortunate that Lisa was there to administer CPR right away.”

After months of not feeling well, Migdalia Rodriguez kept pushing for answers. What she discovered was a severely enlarged heart in heart failure. She needed a heart transplant – and she got one. Now her mission is to raise awareness and encourage women to advocate for themselves.

At 35, Lynda Marino experienced sudden cardiac arrest while driving with her 2-year-old daughter.

Her car slowed on a busy Buffalo highway—honks blared, then strangers rushed to help.

“My life was saved by a number of people that day,” said Lynda. “It starts with a gentleman who was driving behind me and happened to be on the phone with his sister, explaining, ‘Something is really weird with this car. I have to do something.’”

He stopped her car, and another couple sprang into action. One performed CPR, the other comforted her child.

“All of us, as women, often get overlooked for bystander CPR,” she said. “It’s so incredibly important to have the knowledge of how to be someone else’s hero, because you never know. The majority of cardiac arrests happen outside of a medical environment.”

A sheriff used an AED. Lynda was transported to the hospital and survived.

Lynda, who has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a thickened heart muscle, was eager to return to raising her kids and her career as marketing director.

Since her cardiac arrest, she has had multiple surgeries and used different implantable devices over the years.

“My life is still in the hands of medical experts to this day,” she said. “I’m fully reliant on my pacemaker. My heart has no natural rhythm on its own, so I’m completely dependent on technology.”

In December 2023, she was one of the first two recipients at the Cleveland Clinic of a dual-chamber leadless pacemaker that was recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration. It helps Lynda continue to live a full, active life with her family.

She continues to advocate for heart research and awareness.

Lynda was a part of the 2024 Class of Survivors.