Wisconsin University Student Flatlined 3 Times, but Was Saved by His Classmates: 'A Gift'

Mar. 15, 2025

Humberto Barraza (center) at Concordia University.Photo:Courtesy of Mike Zimmerman, Concordia University Wisconsin

Humberto Barraza (center with the cane) visits with his Concordia University Wisconsin classmates and friends in the university’s cafeteria following an event held to honor the individual’s who helped save his life

Courtesy of Mike Zimmerman, Concordia University Wisconsin

Three college students helped save a fellow student who flatlined three times, according to reports.

Humberto Barraza (center) with classmates and friends on March 12, 2025.Courtesy of Mike Zimmerman, Concordia University Wisconsin

The theater student had just finished practicing a dance with a friend when he felt a pain in his chest, so he returned to his dorm room to rest, per CBS 58. Barraza then had a seizure.

His friend, Aiden Batiansile, who was in the room, immediately started administering CPR, according to the outlet, while WISN reported that another student used an app to alert first responders, which caused Brooke Trendel to rush upstairs.

Trendel lived in the same building and was not only a student, but a trained EMT with the local fire department, according to CBS 58. She and campus safety officers used a defibrillator to stabilize Barraza before paramedics arrived, according to the outlet.

Humberto Barraza’s parents hugging campus safety officers who helped save their son.Courtesy of Mike Zimmerman, Concordia University Wisconsin

Humberto Barraza’s parents Jose Barraza and Maribel Lorenzo were reunited on March 12 with the campus safety officers who helped to save their son’s life, Rick Aamodt (left) and Emmitt Smith (right). “How can we ever repay you? You saved my son’s life,” Jose told officers and students through a translator during the March 12 ceremony

“I was thinking worst-case scenario,” Batiansile told CBS 58. “How am I going to live without my best friend?”

Barraza was rushed to the hospital. After he came out of his coma, Barraza said he lost months of memories leading up to the scary incident. “I had all of them taken away, good or bad. I asked, as people do, when are they coming back? Doctors don’t know,” Barraza said, per the outlet.

Per WISN, he was in the hospital for a month as he learned to walk and regain his speech. Now that he’s on the mend, Barraza plans to return to school in the fall semester, according to CBS 58.

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Barraza (center) with his parents and the people who saved his life.Courtesy of Mike Zimmerman, Concordia University Wisconsin

Maribel Lorenzo (Humberto’s mother), CUW student Aidan Batiansila, Jose Barraza, Humberto Barraza, CUW student Brooke Trendel, and CUW Campus Safety Officers Emmitt Smith and Rick Aamodt pose for a photo while signing “I love you.” Both of Barraza’s parents are deaf and communicate primarily through American Sign Language

At the celebration on March 12, Barraza and the classmates who saved his life were celebrated with speeches and prayer.

“I have a son who is in college, so this hits hard knowing that Humberto is about his age,” said Emmitt Smith, a campus safety officer who was on the scene, according to a universitypress release. “We treat all of the students here like they’re our kids.”

source: people.com

Wisconsin University Student Flatlined 3 Times, but Was Saved by His Classmates: 'A Gift'

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