Bystander CPR was part of the response when Las Vegas runner Phil Young suffered cardiac arrest on the Lone Mountain Trail in March 2025. Research cited by the American Heart Association found that people who received bystander CPR within two minutes had an 81% greater chance of surviving to hospital discharge than people who received none. CPR started as late as 10 minutes after the arrest was associated with a 19% higher survival rate.
Young had stopped to use a restroom along the trail. Two nearby Air Force officers came to his aid. KLAS 8 News Now, which interviewed Young, reported that one officer performed CPR for nine minutes before Young could get to the hospital. FOX5 Vegas identified the rescuers as Captain Ethan Compton and Major Brian Knowles and reported their estimate that they provided about 10 minutes of CPR before first responders arrived. The accounts differ on the duration and point in the emergency being described.
The incident also changed Young’s understanding of his health. KLAS reported that doctors found a myocardial bridge that had blocked blood flow to his heart and operated to repair it. Young was in a coma for days and spent nearly a month in the hospital, according to the station.
After leaving the hospital, Young had physical therapy and gradually returned to running. KLAS reported that he ran the New York City Marathon seven months after the cardiac arrest and later completed the Boston Marathon. The station also reported that he learned CPR and wanted to be able to help someone else in an emergency.
A public call to learn CPR
The AHA research report analyzed 198,869 witnessed out-of-hospital cardiac arrests from 2013 through 2022. The association says about 350,000 cardiac arrests occur outside U.S. hospitals each year, with survival below 10%. Its report describes the findings as preliminary pending publication of full results in a peer-reviewed journal.
Young is scheduled to serve as the drummer at the American Heart Association Heart Walk at Las Vegas Ballpark on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. The AHA newsroom expects about 2,000 participants. The organization says the walk raises awareness of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States, as KLAS also reported.
