Stayin’ Alive

The incredible story of how CPR to the beat of Stayin’ Alive saved a life plus tips to reduce stroke & keep your heart healthy

It was a day back in 2009 when the WPTV assignment desk sent me on an story in Delray Beach.

My videographer and I were to meet up with two guys.

Both were named Tom.

And each man had a very different way to explain the same story.

Here’s the remarkable story I reported on then and share once again today as I reunited the two Toms on Today’s Paige the Podcast!

LISTEN HERE:

TODAY'S PAIGE THE PODCAST: STAYIN' ALIVE

*Tom Elowson, Tom Maimone and Paige Kornblue reunite + record* *Today’s Paige the Podcast (February 2022)*

Tom Maimone was out for a jog when he suddenly collapsed.

Maimone was one of those guys who liked to eat right, work out and run five miles every three days.

But on this day, on this run, his heart gave out in the homestretch.

At the same time, on the same day, Tom Elowson and his fiancé at the time were driving around that same neighborhood trying to find their friend’s house.

They saw Maimone collapse in a driveway and quickly ran to his aide.

“I put my fingers against his neck. There was no pulse and it just came to me in that moment. I had just seen months prior Matt Lauer with Dr. Nancy Snyderman doing this perfect beat to CPR to the old disco hit Stayin’ Alive by the Bee Gees,” said Elowson.

“I was kind of armed and ready to go in that moment and the adrenaline started pumping. But I stuck to that beat that 1 0 1 beats per minute of ‘Ooh, staying alive.’ I hate disco, but I love that song now. I ended up doing that on his chest for ten minutes. That alone was enough to keep the blood moving through his lungs and his brain and his organs and keep the oxygen flowing in his body,” Elowson added.

Other Good Samaritans had called 911 and began circling around the two Toms, hands together in prayer.

Paramedics quickly arrived and continued what Elowson had started, praising him for his good work and lifesaving actions. Maimone was taken to Delray Medical Center where he later recovered but it was a long road.

The two soon told their story on local and national news outlets like WPTV and the TODAY SHOW to spread the word about heart health and CPR awareness.

“As long as you start CPR, you get that blood flowing and then you get the time for the EMT’s to arrive and do their job and then you give that person a chance. Just watching a video may save your kid’s life, your wife’s life, your husband’s life or a neighbor’s life. It’s something so simple as putting your hands in the middle of somebody’s chest and just keeping that beat going,” says Maimone.

Also on Today’s Paige, learn the latest heart healthy tips from experts and how to prevent heart failure and stroke from Delray Medical Center’s cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Newman.

Newman has focused on adult cardiac surgery, along with expertise in traditional coronary and valve surgery. He also focuses on mini-mitral valve surgery and mini-aortic valve surgery. Additionally, he is proficient at using the da Vinci robotic system for lung cancer surgery, and is intimately involved in trans-catheter aortic and mitral valve procedures completed at Delray Medical Center.

CPR TIPS: AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION