Heroes Among Us in Fillmore County

As the Hareldson family settled in for the night on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, it seemed like any other night until it was time for bed.  Caleb “Herb” and Samantha “Sam” Hareldson began putting their children Daxyn, 8, Charlie, 7, Cabe, 3, and Demi, just two weeks old at the time, to bed around 9 p.m. 

“We ate supper, I let the dogs out and then I laid Demi down and Herb laid Cabe down, and then he laid down in bed and then he started making really weird noises, explained Sam.  She called her mom and asked her to come because she thought he was passed out or was having a seizure.” 

Returning to Caleb, Sam saw that his eyes were still kind of open, but he didn’t look good.  She called 911 and dispatch walked her through starting CPR.  Sam recalled, “I pulled him off the bed and started CPR right away.  Then his eyes shut, and I felt like he was losing consciousness. I kept doing CPR and I yelled to our son Daxon to open the door and let a cop in.”  

The cop took over performing CPR shortly after, asking Sam’s mom Kim to get the AED out of his squad car.  While the officer was setting up the AED, Sam continued CPR.  

That’s when Lanesboro EMTs Darcy Peterson and Paul Peterson walked in.  A very thankful Sam mostly stayed out of the bedroom after that.” Additional EMTs arrived after that, including Preston EMS Director Deb Ristau.

The EMTs worked on Caleb until he was flown by helicopter to La Crosse, Wis. They were looking at the cause possibly being Long QT Syndrome 3, so he will need to go through the genetic testing for that. Caleb was placed in the ICU and given medications. 

Thursday morning he was up, was extubated and was talking with everyone. That evening he was moved out of ICU and to a regular floor of the hospital.

On Friday Caleb needed to have surgery to have an AICD device put in (like a defibrillator), so it can shock his heart for him because they found out it was a rhythm issue; not along the lines of a heart attack.

Friday afternoon Caleb went in to have the AICD device placed and they had nicked his heart when they were in there.  “It was about a 1% chance that could happen,” stated Sam.  “He was in a lot of pain; the worst pain in he been in the whole time,” Sam shared.  They spent the rest of Friday trying to control his pain. 

Saturday morning Caleb started sweating and got severely nauseous.  They tried pushing fluids, hoping that would help.  His blood pressure dropped. They transferred him back to the ICU and a central line and an arterial line were placed. 

The couple was then informed that an Impella was going to be placed -a temporary heart pump that helps the heart pump blood when it’s weakened or damaged. Once the Impella was placed Caleb was airlifted to Froedtert Hospital in Milwaukee, Wis., and Caleb was admitted to the ICU.

Sunday Caleb had a good day.  His vitals were good and the Impella was removed. He continued to improve on Monday.  Tuesday his arterial line, central line, etc., were removed and he was taken out of ICU. 

On Wednesday, May 7, one week after the initial medical event, Caleb was discharged from the hospital and was able to go home to be with his sweet family with an entire new outlook on life. 

“I don’t remember much of anything at all.  Wednesday I went to work, got home, and everything was normal,” stated Caleb, then he doesn’t really remember much until Saturday.

EMR Darcy Peterson, who was one of the first on scene stated, “We respond to a variety of calls, some require additional skills, but we treat each and every one with the same importance,” adding, “I am very grateful to be a part of our ambulance crew to keep our service available to our community.”

While going through this very scary and trying time, the Hareldsons say they were overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from family, friends, their community of Lanesboro and far beyond. 

“Our family and friends helped us so much,” stated Sam.

“We would like to thank our family, friends, Lanesboro/Preston EMS, Lanesboro Fire, flight crew, care given at Gundersen in La Crosse, care given at Froedtert in Milwaukee, everyone who donated graciously to us, people who brought meals to us, and all the prayers that were said and support given to us at that time. We appreciate it so much,” shared the Hareldsons. 

An account was set up at Merchant’s Bank in Lanesboro for anyone who would like to donate to help the Hareldson family cover expenses, and donation containers were put out at several businesses in the area to continue to show support for this wonderful family of six. 

On June 18, 2025, there was a very deserving EMT awards ceremony held at the Lanesboro Community Hall for the local heroes who saved Caleb’s life that evening. 

Alexander Catevenis, interim executive director of Southeastern Minnesota Emergency Services, was in attendance to provide CPR awards for the local crew members involved in the cardiac resuscitation of Caleb. 

“We are here to recognize personnel involved in an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest on April 30, 2025. Out–of–hospital cardiac arrests are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. But initiatives like the American Red Cross Hands Only CPR are helping to change that,” stated Catevenis.

Those who were present to accept their accommodation were Darcy Peterson, EMR – Preston EMS; Paul Peterson, EMT – Preston EMS; Jackson Orlowski, EMT – Preston EMS; Connor Simon – Preston Police Department, Katelyn Melver – Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office, telecommunicator; and Caleb’s wife Sam Hareldson. The couple’s son Daxyn was also recognized for being so brave when his dad’s medical emergency was taking place.

The following also received accommodations but were unable to attend the awards ceremony: Kyle Kohls, NRP – Gundersen Air; Andy Carpenter, RN – Gundersen Air; Tyler Vatland – Mayo Clinic Ambulance Emergency Communications, telecommunicator; and Autumn Collett – Fillmore County Sheriff’s Office, telecommunicator. 

As Caleb stood up to speak after the awards presentation, he took a moment to collect himself before speaking from the heart.  He spoke about how much his wife has done for him. He spoke to the EMTs involved, saying, “You don’t get enough appreciation for what you guys do. I’m here because of you guys,” Caleb said while trying to hold back his emotions. The crowd applauded.

“Thank you for your support, thank you for everything you guys do and thanks to everyone for being here.  I’m so appreciative, I mean, my kids have a dad, and I get to see my kids every morning; that’s the world,” Caleb said.