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Ten years ago, Karen Ledford nearly died of cardiac arrest. She collapsed in her home. Her husband called 911 and neighbors for help. Her neighbors performed CPR until paramedics arrived. She was unresponsive for 30 minutes before she regained a pulse.

When she recovered, Ledford was determined to use her near-death experience to help others.

She’s done exactly that, using training she gained at �鶹ԭ��.

“That day very well could have been the end. It was an electrical issue that caused my heart to stop beating. I had no idea I had any heart rhythm problems. I didn’t have any symptoms beforehand. It was totally random,” said Ledford.

Or maybe it wasn’t, given that Ledford has been able to use what happened to her to help others.

Ledford, a Waxhaw resident and dental hygienist, learned that her chances of surviving the incident were less than 10 percent. She now has an implanted defibrillator that regulates her heartbeat.

Her “re-birthday” – that’s what she calls the day her heart stopped and then started again – changed her forever.

“Everyone calls me Karen 2.0 because I got rebooted. I came back a little feisty,” she said.

“I realized how short life is, how it goes by so fast. I don’t put up with the little piddly things anymore. Every day is a gift, and I’m going to make them count,” Ledford said.

As a dental hygienist, Ledford is required to maintain CPR certification, but far too few people know how to perform the life-saving technique, she said. She enrolled at �鶹ԭ�� not long after her heart stopped to complete the CPR instructor course, aiming to do her part to increase CPR certifications in our area.

A decade later, she is the owner of , a business that provides CPR instruction. She estimates she’s trained more than 2,500 individuals in CPR.

“It started as a pay-it-forward kind of thing. I help health care providers renew their CPR certification. I teach civic groups and laypeople,” she said.

Through From the Heart CPR, Ledford has also been able to raise money to donate 21 – and counting – automatic external defibrillators (AEDs). She’s given the AEDs to organizations including adult daycare centers, horse therapy farms, the Boys and Girls Club, and others.

What makes her company different, she said, is that it truly is work she’s performing from the heart.

“I tell my story. People tell me that’s what makes the difference for them. They understand the why behind learning CPR,” she said.

“Everyone should know CPR. You never know when it might be you who needs CPR, or when you might be the one who is in a position to help someone else.”