For the Chapman family of Hudsonville, Michigan, life last fall was comfortably normal. It was just another night in September, early in the school year. Rachel and Chad are both middle school teachers.
She teaches language arts and special education; Chad, a coach, teaches physical education. They were each driving home after school that Wednesday and decided to meet for dinner at a local pub. After they ate, they got a to-go order of burgers and fries for their sons, 17-year-old Jake and 14-year-old Lukas.
While the boys sat eating at the kitchen counter, Rachel worked on lesson plans in the bedroom. Chad was near the kitchen, idly listening to his sons talk about their day. Then he heard it – what he calls "a weird, struggling, gasping, air-sucking noise.
" He looked over to his sons and Jake had "a weird, contorted facial expression." Initially, Chad thought Jake was being silly, trying to make Lukas laugh. He called Jake's name, just to be sure.
No response. He then called it out again. "When he didn't respond," Chad said, "I knew something was obviously wrong.
" So did Rachel. She'd never heard that tone in her husband's voice – urgent, panicked, terrified, loud. She rushed into the kitchen just as Chad yelled "Get Mom!" to Lukas.
Then Jake went limp. Rachel grabbed her phone and called 911, screaming into the phone. Chad started CPR, which he had known for years.
Four hours earlier, during a school meeting, Chad had been told that he needed to renew his CPR training..