Video: Buffalo Grove Resident Thanks Paramedics for Saving His Life

A Buffalo Grove resident publicly thanked paramedics Monday for saving his life, telling his rescuers, “without you, I probably wouldn’t be standing here.”

Matt Rapaport, 33, said he has no recollection of the day in mid-April when he complained of a severe headache and then collapsed in the shower. His wife, Lisa, called 911 and responders from Buffalo Grove and Long Grove came to his rescue. 

“They found this man not breathing and pulseless on the floor,” Chief Terry Vavra said. Crews administered CPR, inserted a tube into his lungs and “shocked his heart” before transporting him to the hospital, the chief said. 

Rapaport, who awoke a couple of days later with a defibrillator implanted in his chest, was told that his sudden illness was caused by a ventricular fibrillation.

Rapaport, who works in sales for Life Time Fitness, said he’s otherwise been healthy and often exercises. He described the experience as “surreal.”

“I was never in any pain. I don’t remember feeling sick,” he said. “I didn’t really believe it. I thought it was kind of a bad dream or a bad joke.”

Instead, thanks to the fast actions of his wife and the emergency response crews, it was Rapaport who was able to crack jokes this week, telling the crowd of uniformed paramedics, “I’m shocked there’s so many of you. My bedroom’s not that big. My bathroom’s not that big."

He and Vavra distributed certificates to each of the rescuers, who received the special commendations from the fire chief.

“I stood in the back of the bedroom and I watched these guys work, and after 30-plus years of doing this, I still get amazed at what they can do and how they work so well together,” Vavra said. “Matt’s here today in no small part due to the work these people did out there, which was pretty amazing.”

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