‘My angels’: Lincoln man reunites with people who saved his life after a heart attack

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) — What started as a normal night of fun for Carl Bouges quickly turned into a brush with death.

He was dancing the night away at Cappy’s Bar & Grill when he suddenly collapsed from a heart attack.

April Barker, a retired nurse, rushed in to perform CPR.

“When I couldn’t feel a carotid pulse, I just started compressions, and I just kept going and going and going,” Barker said.

Several people jumped into high gear to get Bouges’ heart to start again.

Barker performed CPR for at least five minutes while waiting for paramedics, something everyone said felt like an eternity.

“Everybody in the room came together like you wouldn’t believe,” said Nancy Hamer, a friend of Carl’s. “We all kind of held a collective breath. We said a prayer. I was with his darling girlfriend, Carol, and we just said, ‘Come on Carl, come back Carl.’ We just sat there calmly and tried to urge him to come back.”

For the first time since that experience, Bouges reunited with the ones who saved his life on Saturday.

Dozens came together to surprise him and gift him with a special t-shirt to always remember.

“I call them my angels because they were all here,” Bouges said. “It was so reassuring that all their prayers and all their tears, and all their compressions CPR went together to keep me alive.”

Bouges challenged himself to get back on the dance floor just four weeks after having triple bypass surgery.

“I have been looking forward to this day for the last 30 days,” Barker said. “I kept in contact with Carl and Carol throughout his surgery and recovery. I love Carl; he’s got a unique way of dancing.”

For the rest of the night, Bouges and Barker danced the night away.

“I’m going to do some of my moves, I hope! That might be it for the night!” said Bouges.