March 25, 2025 • 26 mins
Arthur Lih is the Founder and CEO of LifeVac, a company dedicated to saving lives by preventing choking tragedies. A graduate of Stony Brook University, he built a successful career in logistics, co-founding ALBS Logistics and growing it to over $20 million in annual revenue before its acquisition by Radiant Global Logistics in 2012. Motivated by a tragic story of a child's choking death, Arthur used his creativity and determination to invent LifeVac, a patented, portable, non-invasive airway clearance device. His leadership has driven LifeVac’s widespread recognition and thousands of life-saving successes.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:10):
Two words is gonna be one of them submarining ones.
Ye add those? All right. I think we can roll
with this as soon as I give you the no.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You just want to make sure that you talk no
problem what I'm talking to No, no, no. It's always
good to do a mic check.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah yeah, racial.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Shute, all right, Mike check one too, one two yeah,
good all right? Cool videos all set, all right, so
let's jump into it. As you know, it's not recorded live.
The last thing is if we mess something up, we
get to make all the edits and and fix it up.
(00:57):
But we'll jump into it.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hi everyone, this is Steve Dallison and welcome to this
week's edition of CEOs. You should know I am thrilled
to be joined by Arthur, the inventor in CEO of
life Back Arthur, thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, thank you man. I really appreciate it. When I
met you, I felt that energy. I was like, heck, yeah, man,
it's just fun.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Love to hear that and right back at you. I
was really excited to have you join the podcast today.
So let's jump into it. Why don't you start off
by telling us a little bit about your background and
really what led you to creating life back?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, you know, it's funny. In the CEO side. My
first life, I built a company with me and my
partner to other people built it up, and in forty
seven I had sold.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
It and I was retiring.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I heard about a tragedy of seven year old my
daughter was seven, that choked to death. And you know,
it's funny how life takes you on a path. The
education from building a transportation company gave me some confidence
that I could take on this challenge. But the first
challenge was inventing something that would work.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah, that's awesome. So obviously different transition, right, as you
mentioned you went from transportation to medical. What was the transition, like,
I'm sure that there was a lot of logistics behind it,
kind of starting up in a medical device industry.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It's I think it's hard to comprehend it. You know,
if you had to pick something to invent a medical
product from your garage, would probably not be on the
list of easy things to do, you know, just lack
of any experience, any knowledge. Now I had the heart
and soul and I had the experience of taking something
from nothing and building it. But it was a whole
(02:37):
new world. And but you know, it was a different
there was a different need, and it wasn't a living
it was a passion. It was a mission. You know,
if you have your children, you know you think about
holding one of them and they expire in your hands.
So when you get that kind of vision, that kind
of understanding of the significance that the challenges don't matter
(03:00):
to me, it never mattered. I pretty much thought it
was going to be impossible. I pretty much thought I
was going to fail, but didn't matter. How to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
It's awesome. We touched on this a little bit, but
I know that the idea behind it was really born
out of a very personal and tragic inspiration. Can you
share a little bit about that moment and how it
motivated you to create life act?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, I think it goes back to, you know, my
last year in college, I fell asleep at the wheel
and the car went off the road and my two
best friends died, and I was in ICU for two
weeks and for twenty years I wanted to end my life.
I just but it's an odd thing. My understanding of
(03:46):
the pain that was created to their families, who I
kid so much about more beautiful people, and they had
they had to survive. I couldn't do that to my mother,
So I stayed alive because of the pain it would
put to my mother. My life came back when my
daughter was born, and I really started to feel like
I had a life again. There was hope. And so
(04:09):
when seven years when she was seven, I heard of
a seven year old that died, all that pain and
flashback of twenty years or one that just sticked my
head in front of the express train came back and
I said, I will not survive that. And I have
a responsibility as her father. So it's twofold, right. I
don't want the pain, but my job is the only
(04:30):
thing I got to do is make sure she's okay.
So and then when I had it and now I
could save her, it was a brief moment of good.
I can go about my life. She's safe. And then
that the pain of the families of my friends, and
I said, how could I be the only one? How
could I be the one that I can save my daughter?
(04:51):
Your daughter died too bad? And that combined with what
we first talked about about being impossible. Taking my Unae's
device from your garage it was with the devil on
my shoulder saying you're going to get crushed. But the pain,
the true pain, understanding it, having it happen was greater.
(05:11):
Doesn't matter what it takes. I gotta do it. If
I cannot have people feel what I've felt, to know
what I know, to want to end your life for
twenty years, to wake up every day and say, damn it,
I was really hoping I didn't have to wake up today.
And now you know, twenty five hundred parents play with
their child instead of visiting them at the cemetery or
(05:34):
you know, taking their own minds.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah for sure. Well thank you for sharing that. Yeah
for sure, thank you for sharing that. Another very personal
story to share. But on that positive side, obviously you
were able to create something from that inspiration that, to
your point, has really helped thousands of individuals.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
He said, it is hard to share it, and for
I don't know, twenty thirty years, I haven't really shared
it much, but I think it's important and people know
two things that you can make it, you know, hang
in there, you know. Look I went from if I
had ended my life, who knows right and would have
heard everyone around me? And if you hang in there
(06:15):
long enough, miracles going to happen. Right, that pain led
to all these people being saved. Yep, so I come more.
I will share that story when necessary and try and
take the pain turn it into hope that people hearing
it who may be in that position hang in there. Yeah,
(06:36):
And I only can tell you what I know. I
would never be a projector so you should do this.
I don't know what makes you tick. That's what I did.
That's what happened for me. It's your first experience hanging
there long enough to let the miracle app for sure, and.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It's a great story to be able to share. Speaking
of saving a lot of individuals, Right Life Act has
really become that game changer, and it comes to emergency
airwave clearance. What were some of the biggest challenges I
know we talked about obviously building it out from the garage,
entering a new industry that you never worked with before,
But what were some of the biggest challenges when you
(07:12):
first introduced it to the market.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, it's pretty simple. It's kind of a funny story too,
so now I get it. We did testing on mannequins
and cadavers, and we had publications on it, but there's
a leap of faith time because I cannot ethically or
legally choke someone and pull it out, so I would.
I remember going to fire department and two that stick
(07:34):
out is Chief McGuire and Freeport and chief Sproado and Brentwood,
and they said, you know it's great. He said, you know,
how does it work? I said, I think it's gonna
They're like what, and I'm like, I don't know what
to tell you. It's cart and horse then, and both
of them, in their own way, maguire said it's another
tool and toolbox and Sparado said it's another club in
(07:56):
the bag. We're courageous enough to say I think it'll
work too, and if someone's going to die, I'll pretty
much try anything. The simplicity of it helped, and they
gave me more hope than you know. We made it
from two fire departments.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
But the.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Challenge was getting something out there in the medical world
with life and death on the line, where you can't
prove it works. So how do you get the first
person to do it? How do you get it? How
do you get the data of saving lives if no
one will put it in Because it hasn't saved the life. Yeah,
and you know we had learning all about the FDA
(08:34):
and making sure we were compliant and everything. These were
all ridiculous challenges that are usually done by one hundred
billion dollar companies. The guy came in, he said, who
was in the first board meeting when you came up
with the design? Now he's expecting to hear you know,
our medical director or entity. I'm like, well, that would
be me and my seven year old daughter. He's looked
(08:57):
at me like what, I'm like, I don't know. I'm
not going to lie to you that honest yet. So
there were numerous but I guess the cart and the
horse thing. How do you get something out there in
a life and depth situation when you can't prove it
in a life and death situation.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yeah, but those two guys gave you that confidence though.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Well, it gave me the hope that there were enough
courageous and intelligent people. Thank god. It's simple. It's physics, yep.
So it's not physiology. I'm not altering DNA, I'm not
doing any of those things. It's physics. If you pull
on something that's stuck at twenty at two hundred it's
gonna move. And there were enough break people that said,
(09:34):
I agree, it's gonna work. I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's great. So being something brand new right to the
medical field, how did you really help build that awareness
and gain credibility about life back in the early.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Stages, basically doing everything humanly possible. I went on every
little podcasts, every TV in the basement show. I spoke
at every convention, every MS or Paul's, any meaning I
could get into. I tortured people in this industry and
put me on, knocked on every door, went every fire department,
(10:10):
every yeld care. Wrote endlessly, it's it's I think if
you put my writing it would fill this room. You know,
I just either a medical journals or or or please
or paragraphs or stories that it was everything, any everything
(10:31):
and anything I could do, travel all over country, travel
all over the world. I mean you it was saying,
you know, thanks for having me. I know, like you
kidd me, we could save a life.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Talk absolutely and fast forward today you've saved thousands of lives, right, yeah,
and I know that that probably is a really amazing feeling.
Fast Forwarding from when you heard about the tragedy around
that seven year old and today, can you share with
us on a personal level, like what is the impact
of what your guys, what you guys are doing every
single day, really mean to you.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
It's the paint we you know. When we had our
first save, the miracle was it was done by a
woman named Jackie, and I felt the guy that had
said to me that you know your perseverances. He was saying,
you got to keep going because next day a kid
died in school. But it was that little bit of
pat they say, you know, I'm with you and staying there.
(11:22):
And I was just talking to someone who saved the
five year old this morning. We just talked to daughters
four yep. And he had found a little piece of plastic.
She was CPR trained, she did all the protocols and
he was blue and I'm reading it and it saved him.
And she said, thank God for your product, thank you
for making it. And every day I take that accident
(11:45):
and I say, she didn't have to have that. And
in our facility we have a whole saves and we
have the pictures of thirty five hundred people on the wall.
We had to raise the roof and when I go
in there, I sit there and say, okay, all these
people are still whole, you know, the parents, the grandparents,
(12:06):
the friends, the kids are friends at school and all
those people around these people are okay yeah, And that's
pretty powerful reason to keep going.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
It's the true testament of the work you're doing, your
team's doing. And I can't wait to visit the hall.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yeah, you got to see it. It's it's you know what.
At this point, especially since we raised the ceiling, it
has a very cathedral feeling, you know, because you think
about it. Sadly, most walls are remembrance, right, and they
hit me one day, I think Brian told me he
said it, but the our wall is four minutes from
being remembrance right, that same institution thirty five hundred pictures
(12:50):
four minutes later it's in memory of But since we
were there, it's a joyful moment. That room is full
of joy. These people are alive. We're not celebrating them
or memorialize on.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Them in the future that they have ahead of them.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
And as it got bigger and bigger, it's really a
powerful thing. Like you know, we were out riding and
we did the giant redwood, you know, and you want
a spiritual God moment right these giant woods. It's a
cathedral and that's our cathedral.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
That's awesome. Congrats on that.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I know you guys have gained global recognition. What's next?
What are some of your future aspirations for the company.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Well, I'm so blessed that finally, but I say with
that with gratitude. The American Red Cross put out a
statement that should protocol. It's a recommendation that if protocol
fails and air we claims device should be used or
and this is most important, if it can't be used,
you mean it cannot be done. Passion exists and we
(13:54):
c J. Douglas Colonel is going to help us our veterans.
You're in a wheelchair, you have nothing, our special needs,
you have nothing. And you're in a school and you
have a scoliosis space or a cast or you're in
a wheelchair. There's no way to save you. Prior to us,
my lady violation the posters, nice kids standing and getting rescued.
(14:15):
We have a chance. Now the Red Cross has acknowledged
that not everyone can be saved with current protocol. So
my AI, my hope is that we now can save everyone.
It really irks me that we have people that need
our help right they don't want it, they need it,
(14:36):
and we have an obligation to understand and to help them.
And we're getting there, and now it's our chance getting
every school. There's bill pending today passes, it'll be required
to end the mission, to end the mission to stop
joking deaths. I want in my lifetime to read it
(15:00):
out of choking death because it never happens. It's a
big news story because someone choked, because sixteen people are
going to die today and it will not be on
the news. One hundred kids have died in school since
I started. It's not the news. Nine kids died last
year in school. It's not in the news. I wanted
to be in the news because it never happens.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yep. It's a great, great hope for the future.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, man, I'm going to do it, doesn't matter. I mean,
if I don't, someone will pick the flag up. I'm
getting old.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Speaking about the future. I'm sure that you guys are
improving the product, product developments, innovation. Can you share anything
that you're particularly excited about?
Speaker 1 (15:36):
You know what's funny. We put a lot of effort
into the product, and I think in my book. It's
the title of perfection. It's close. I really I have
no desire to come up with anything else. I don't
have any desire to change it because it works and
it's simple. And the reason it works and simple is
from the beginning I knew I'd be scared. So it's
(15:58):
a sink pong to just push it down pullet, and
thank god that has been the intuitive nature and the
simplicity to save life every time in a very panic situation.
But I really have no desire to do anything else.
I want to finish my mission. I want to I
want to save a million lives. When they, you know,
(16:18):
throw dirt on me and if I'm not down, I'm
going to call my way out, They're gonna have to
hit me with the shovel. Because we have a chance
to do something really significant. No one has ever done this.
No one's ever cured a leading cause of death, no
one has ever changed these statistics, and there hasn't been
an innovation choking in sixty years. Yeah so, and no
(16:43):
one's ever given people with disability a chance. So I'm
good with finishing this one.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Your point, simplicity is key, right, because you are in
a panic in that moment, and making the products so
easy to use is I'm sure even a bigger factor
in saving all those I took.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
That as a sociologists by nature, mostly played hockey and
chase girls but in college. But the key to me
when I was doing it one of my first incarnations
was it got too complicated. I said, I was worried
about me. I said, I will screw it up, and
I made it yep. So I tossed it out and
I said, I got to come up with simple, intuitive,
(17:24):
dummy proof. Just pushing pulls many times you have to
go crazy. You'll get lucky. If you don't study your
train and practice a little, you'll get lucky. It'll come out.
It always has.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Absolutely all the positive that's going on. I'm sure that
along the way there could also be some hurdles. Can
you share with us some of the hurdles in the
industry or some of the challenges that you guys might
be facing right now?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well, the challenges have been in short, our society has
changed quite a bit. We were very afraid of the
right thing for legal purposes. I cannot tell you I
first started, I said, sixty kids that died in school.
I sent them an email saying I'll give you one
for free. You don't want that to happen again. Fifty
(18:07):
nine ignored it. One called us and said, we're in litigation.
Don't talk to us. The battle of moral meaning you know,
we don't think we're allowed to use it. Now you
think about what you're saying. My school is going to
let this kid die because we are afraid of litigation.
(18:27):
And it's been hard. I almost punched two people. But
just sit there and listen to that. And so you
would let a kid die because you're afraid of getting
in trouble. But you would not believe how much of
a hurdle that is. We're not in every school. Why
not was nine kids died last year? But it's amazing
(18:48):
and I've learned a lot about our change in our cultures.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You know that.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
When someone says that to me, I'm like, what is
wrong with you? Even if I was going to get
in trouble who was a kid and you said I
save and you're going to kill me, I'd say kill me.
I'm gonna save the kid bad good sixty years. He
deserves it. But to hear that it has been so brutal.
Thank god the Red Cross came along. We can blame
them because everyone would say that's not the right crowd.
(19:17):
And I say, well, that doesn't mean you let the
kid die. You saved the kids.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
You do everything possible right, But that's what you.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Would think is a normal human being. And so many
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of we're not allowed. Okay,
you're not allowed to save a kid, but it's all
wrong by law, you're supposed to supposed to do anything reasonable.
There's no rules or laws that say you can't do
this or that. It's all bs. But our brains have
(19:45):
become so scared, scared saw who cares? But the really
frustrating part is backwards. You're supposed to save a life.
You get in trouble when they die, not for trying
to save them. I think I get a little emotional
about this man. And luckily I didn't punch the two people.
(20:08):
If they were guys, I would have punched definitely. One
was it, Uh, it was in Washington. It was a
There was a conference and I had a safety and
they had both said, well, we have no idea how
to save someone in a choking emergency. And I was
sitting next to the head of school disability of time.
I said, there you go, right there. She says, yeah,
(20:31):
you know you should call the eight hundred line. I said,
I'm sitting next to you and you just heard them.
That would have been a punch in the face, but
it was a woman can't punch.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
That makes sense. So for anyone tuning in right now
that might have an idea like you did, right they
might want to create a new invention, or they might
see something that they want to course correct and they're
standing in their garage right now, what is the advice
you would give them?
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Well, sadly, the first thing I would say, obviously you
got to research and make it doesn't exist. I would say,
you're gonna your patent is probably going to be worthless.
You need to be prepared for getting knocked off and
not succeeding. I think if it's something of moral significance,
you know you do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
But I would tell people be careful because if you
think you're going to get a patent and that's going
to protect you, you're wrong. We'll knock it off, put
it in Amazon, put you out of business. So if
particularly if it's relatively inexpensive, so I would say, you know,
you've got to go for it, but just have that
(21:40):
in the back of your head that eventually it's going
to get taken over and stolen. Yep, sad. Yeah, Well
the best way I can see is trademarks and copyrights.
But it doesn't matter. Look, we're FDA proved registered and
we work with the FDA. So my device is being
(22:01):
knocked off and it's illegal. It's federally illegal. So if
you make this cup and it's a better cup, as
soon as you hit a decent sales number, they will
copy it. Don't matter. Patent mine's illegal to do and
it's all over. So it's a cautionary tale. I'm not
(22:21):
saying don't do it. I'm saying, if I had to
give you one piece of advice, don't be lulled into
your patent. It's going to protect you. Don't care sip
the Amazon and wipe you out.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Real advice, Yes, needed, sad, But that's the case. Anyone's
tuning in and they want to purchase the Life Act product,
or they want to be involved in the mission and
help gain awareness. What should be the call to action?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Just go to lifeback dot net and you know you
can purchase it, and you know I or Mark make
your own choice. If you have a child, I would
say I would highly recommend it, live alone, have a disability,
or your elderly, those are the ones I really would
You know, young and them, go for it, and you're
probably gonna be all right. But those are the ones
where for others you probably should consider having it. It's
(23:09):
life fact dot that there's information, there's contact for him too.
You know you want to help or you have the
capability to institute it, tell us what we can do this.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It's great. I myself am a dad. I have two
at home. I have one at home and I carry
one in the diaper bags. It's with us at all times.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
You would not believe save we've gotten from the diaper
bag of other people. Bring it out of a park.
How at a restaurant. We had a save at SeaWorld
that I love, Ladies to have it inner diaper bag.
Person with a disability choked. Everyone stood there.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
No one knew what to do.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
The mom who carried for her little child saved the
person with disability. And we have hundreds of good smartan saves.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
It's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing your story with
us before we wrap up. I know we touched on
this a little bit earlier, but I'd love to just
and on a on a high note years from now.
What do you want life act in yourself to be
remembered for him? What do you guys want your mission
to be that you accomplished?
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I think, not me. I think it would the story
would be great. I was thinking about this. You know,
you don't know Henry Ford. You don't know these people,
right an. I would like the story of that guy
who did this started as garage and changed the world.
You can too. So it's not me. I'm dirt and dust.
(24:31):
Whatever the story connected to what it did. Meaning my
kids say, because some crazy guy went his garage and
changed the world, right, I'm gone. Who kids, That's what
I want. That's what I'd love to see for us
to persevere, to get future innovation, future cards, future change,
(24:51):
make a difference.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Not me.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Maybe a statue with a pigeon. I always thought it'd
be fun if he was like, you know, we made it,
so he landed and pooped on me. That's not me,
it's the mission. It's the statement that you can change
the world. You can do it. You can do it
right from your garage and now I know I did it. Yep,
and that's what you need to know.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
That's awesome. Well, Arthur, thank you so much for coming
in today, for sharing your story. It definitely is a
story of inspiration. And you guys are doing amazing work.
So thank you for everything that you and the entire
Life Act is doing well.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
You and your team here have been so good to
us and I greatly appreciate it. And we have a
chart of how medias save lives. I look forward to
you guys climbing it because we will get a message
that says I heard about our heart and I save
my kid and me and you are going to have
a handshake and a little cry and say that's the
important media.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, well I'm looking forward to that. Mean we're honored
to be able to get this very important message out
there and work with you guys for many more years
to come. Thank you guys for tuning in. Please tune
in next week for next week's edition of CEOs. You
should know. Awesome, great job, that was fun, that was
great time.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Oh you did good. Thanks you work a lot.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Try try to keep it up,
Two words is gonna be one of them submarining ones.
Ye add those? All right. I think we can roll
with this as soon as I give you the no.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
You just want to make sure that you talk no
problem what I'm talking to No, no, no. It's always
good to do a mic check.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Yeah yeah, racial.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Shute, all right, Mike check one too, one two yeah,
good all right? Cool videos all set, all right, so
let's jump into it. As you know, it's not recorded live.
The last thing is if we mess something up, we
get to make all the edits and and fix it up.
(00:57):
But we'll jump into it.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
It's perfect.
Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hi everyone, this is Steve Dallison and welcome to this
week's edition of CEOs. You should know I am thrilled
to be joined by Arthur, the inventor in CEO of
life Back Arthur, thanks for coming in today.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Well, thank you man. I really appreciate it. When I
met you, I felt that energy. I was like, heck, yeah, man,
it's just fun.
Speaker 2 (01:16):
Love to hear that and right back at you. I
was really excited to have you join the podcast today.
So let's jump into it. Why don't you start off
by telling us a little bit about your background and
really what led you to creating life back?
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Well, you know, it's funny. In the CEO side. My
first life, I built a company with me and my
partner to other people built it up, and in forty
seven I had sold.
Speaker 2 (01:37):
It and I was retiring.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
I heard about a tragedy of seven year old my
daughter was seven, that choked to death. And you know,
it's funny how life takes you on a path. The
education from building a transportation company gave me some confidence
that I could take on this challenge. But the first
challenge was inventing something that would work.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
Yeah, that's awesome. So obviously different transition, right, as you
mentioned you went from transportation to medical. What was the transition, like,
I'm sure that there was a lot of logistics behind it,
kind of starting up in a medical device industry.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
It's I think it's hard to comprehend it. You know,
if you had to pick something to invent a medical
product from your garage, would probably not be on the
list of easy things to do, you know, just lack
of any experience, any knowledge. Now I had the heart
and soul and I had the experience of taking something
from nothing and building it. But it was a whole
(02:37):
new world. And but you know, it was a different
there was a different need, and it wasn't a living
it was a passion. It was a mission. You know,
if you have your children, you know you think about
holding one of them and they expire in your hands.
So when you get that kind of vision, that kind
of understanding of the significance that the challenges don't matter
(03:00):
to me, it never mattered. I pretty much thought it
was going to be impossible. I pretty much thought I
was going to fail, but didn't matter. How to do it.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
It's awesome. We touched on this a little bit, but
I know that the idea behind it was really born
out of a very personal and tragic inspiration. Can you
share a little bit about that moment and how it
motivated you to create life act?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Well, I think it goes back to, you know, my
last year in college, I fell asleep at the wheel
and the car went off the road and my two
best friends died, and I was in ICU for two
weeks and for twenty years I wanted to end my life.
I just but it's an odd thing. My understanding of
(03:46):
the pain that was created to their families, who I
kid so much about more beautiful people, and they had
they had to survive. I couldn't do that to my mother,
So I stayed alive because of the pain it would
put to my mother. My life came back when my
daughter was born, and I really started to feel like
I had a life again. There was hope. And so
(04:09):
when seven years when she was seven, I heard of
a seven year old that died, all that pain and
flashback of twenty years or one that just sticked my
head in front of the express train came back and
I said, I will not survive that. And I have
a responsibility as her father. So it's twofold, right. I
don't want the pain, but my job is the only
(04:30):
thing I got to do is make sure she's okay.
So and then when I had it and now I
could save her, it was a brief moment of good.
I can go about my life. She's safe. And then
that the pain of the families of my friends, and
I said, how could I be the only one? How
could I be the one that I can save my daughter?
(04:51):
Your daughter died too bad? And that combined with what
we first talked about about being impossible. Taking my Unae's
device from your garage it was with the devil on
my shoulder saying you're going to get crushed. But the pain,
the true pain, understanding it, having it happen was greater.
(05:11):
Doesn't matter what it takes. I gotta do it. If
I cannot have people feel what I've felt, to know
what I know, to want to end your life for
twenty years, to wake up every day and say, damn it,
I was really hoping I didn't have to wake up today.
And now you know, twenty five hundred parents play with
their child instead of visiting them at the cemetery or
(05:34):
you know, taking their own minds.
Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yeah for sure. Well thank you for sharing that. Yeah
for sure, thank you for sharing that. Another very personal
story to share. But on that positive side, obviously you
were able to create something from that inspiration that, to
your point, has really helped thousands of individuals.
Speaker 1 (05:52):
He said, it is hard to share it, and for
I don't know, twenty thirty years, I haven't really shared
it much, but I think it's important and people know
two things that you can make it, you know, hang
in there, you know. Look I went from if I
had ended my life, who knows right and would have
heard everyone around me? And if you hang in there
(06:15):
long enough, miracles going to happen. Right, that pain led
to all these people being saved. Yep, so I come more.
I will share that story when necessary and try and
take the pain turn it into hope that people hearing
it who may be in that position hang in there. Yeah,
(06:36):
And I only can tell you what I know. I
would never be a projector so you should do this.
I don't know what makes you tick. That's what I did.
That's what happened for me. It's your first experience hanging
there long enough to let the miracle app for sure, and.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
It's a great story to be able to share. Speaking
of saving a lot of individuals, Right Life Act has
really become that game changer, and it comes to emergency
airwave clearance. What were some of the biggest challenges I
know we talked about obviously building it out from the garage,
entering a new industry that you never worked with before,
But what were some of the biggest challenges when you
(07:12):
first introduced it to the market.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, it's pretty simple. It's kind of a funny story too,
so now I get it. We did testing on mannequins
and cadavers, and we had publications on it, but there's
a leap of faith time because I cannot ethically or
legally choke someone and pull it out, so I would.
I remember going to fire department and two that stick
(07:34):
out is Chief McGuire and Freeport and chief Sproado and Brentwood,
and they said, you know it's great. He said, you know,
how does it work? I said, I think it's gonna
They're like what, and I'm like, I don't know what
to tell you. It's cart and horse then, and both
of them, in their own way, maguire said it's another
tool and toolbox and Sparado said it's another club in
(07:56):
the bag. We're courageous enough to say I think it'll
work too, and if someone's going to die, I'll pretty
much try anything. The simplicity of it helped, and they
gave me more hope than you know. We made it
from two fire departments.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
But the.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Challenge was getting something out there in the medical world
with life and death on the line, where you can't
prove it works. So how do you get the first
person to do it? How do you get it? How
do you get the data of saving lives if no
one will put it in Because it hasn't saved the life. Yeah,
and you know we had learning all about the FDA
(08:34):
and making sure we were compliant and everything. These were
all ridiculous challenges that are usually done by one hundred
billion dollar companies. The guy came in, he said, who
was in the first board meeting when you came up
with the design? Now he's expecting to hear you know,
our medical director or entity. I'm like, well, that would
be me and my seven year old daughter. He's looked
(08:57):
at me like what, I'm like, I don't know. I'm
not going to lie to you that honest yet. So
there were numerous but I guess the cart and the
horse thing. How do you get something out there in
a life and depth situation when you can't prove it
in a life and death situation.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
Yeah, but those two guys gave you that confidence though.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Well, it gave me the hope that there were enough
courageous and intelligent people. Thank god. It's simple. It's physics, yep.
So it's not physiology. I'm not altering DNA, I'm not
doing any of those things. It's physics. If you pull
on something that's stuck at twenty at two hundred it's
gonna move. And there were enough break people that said,
(09:34):
I agree, it's gonna work. I'll do it.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
It's great. So being something brand new right to the
medical field, how did you really help build that awareness
and gain credibility about life back in the early.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Stages, basically doing everything humanly possible. I went on every
little podcasts, every TV in the basement show. I spoke
at every convention, every MS or Paul's, any meaning I
could get into. I tortured people in this industry and
put me on, knocked on every door, went every fire department,
(10:10):
every yeld care. Wrote endlessly, it's it's I think if
you put my writing it would fill this room. You know,
I just either a medical journals or or or please
or paragraphs or stories that it was everything, any everything
(10:31):
and anything I could do, travel all over country, travel
all over the world. I mean you it was saying,
you know, thanks for having me. I know, like you
kidd me, we could save a life.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Talk absolutely and fast forward today you've saved thousands of lives, right, yeah,
and I know that that probably is a really amazing feeling.
Fast Forwarding from when you heard about the tragedy around
that seven year old and today, can you share with
us on a personal level, like what is the impact
of what your guys, what you guys are doing every
single day, really mean to you.
Speaker 1 (11:00):
It's the paint we you know. When we had our
first save, the miracle was it was done by a
woman named Jackie, and I felt the guy that had
said to me that you know your perseverances. He was saying,
you got to keep going because next day a kid
died in school. But it was that little bit of
pat they say, you know, I'm with you and staying there.
(11:22):
And I was just talking to someone who saved the
five year old this morning. We just talked to daughters
four yep. And he had found a little piece of plastic.
She was CPR trained, she did all the protocols and
he was blue and I'm reading it and it saved him.
And she said, thank God for your product, thank you
for making it. And every day I take that accident
(11:45):
and I say, she didn't have to have that. And
in our facility we have a whole saves and we
have the pictures of thirty five hundred people on the wall.
We had to raise the roof and when I go
in there, I sit there and say, okay, all these
people are still whole, you know, the parents, the grandparents,
(12:06):
the friends, the kids are friends at school and all
those people around these people are okay yeah, And that's
pretty powerful reason to keep going.
Speaker 2 (12:19):
It's the true testament of the work you're doing, your
team's doing. And I can't wait to visit the hall.
Speaker 1 (12:24):
Yeah, you got to see it. It's it's you know what.
At this point, especially since we raised the ceiling, it
has a very cathedral feeling, you know, because you think
about it. Sadly, most walls are remembrance, right, and they
hit me one day, I think Brian told me he
said it, but the our wall is four minutes from
being remembrance right, that same institution thirty five hundred pictures
(12:50):
four minutes later it's in memory of But since we
were there, it's a joyful moment. That room is full
of joy. These people are alive. We're not celebrating them
or memorialize on.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Them in the future that they have ahead of them.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
And as it got bigger and bigger, it's really a
powerful thing. Like you know, we were out riding and
we did the giant redwood, you know, and you want
a spiritual God moment right these giant woods. It's a
cathedral and that's our cathedral.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
That's awesome. Congrats on that.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I know you guys have gained global recognition. What's next?
What are some of your future aspirations for the company.
Speaker 1 (13:31):
Well, I'm so blessed that finally, but I say with
that with gratitude. The American Red Cross put out a
statement that should protocol. It's a recommendation that if protocol
fails and air we claims device should be used or
and this is most important, if it can't be used,
you mean it cannot be done. Passion exists and we
(13:54):
c J. Douglas Colonel is going to help us our veterans.
You're in a wheelchair, you have nothing, our special needs,
you have nothing. And you're in a school and you
have a scoliosis space or a cast or you're in
a wheelchair. There's no way to save you. Prior to us,
my lady violation the posters, nice kids standing and getting rescued.
(14:15):
We have a chance. Now the Red Cross has acknowledged
that not everyone can be saved with current protocol. So
my AI, my hope is that we now can save everyone.
It really irks me that we have people that need
our help right they don't want it, they need it,
(14:36):
and we have an obligation to understand and to help them.
And we're getting there, and now it's our chance getting
every school. There's bill pending today passes, it'll be required
to end the mission, to end the mission to stop
joking deaths. I want in my lifetime to read it
(15:00):
out of choking death because it never happens. It's a
big news story because someone choked, because sixteen people are
going to die today and it will not be on
the news. One hundred kids have died in school since
I started. It's not the news. Nine kids died last
year in school. It's not in the news. I wanted
to be in the news because it never happens.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
Yep. It's a great, great hope for the future.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, man, I'm going to do it, doesn't matter. I mean,
if I don't, someone will pick the flag up. I'm
getting old.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Speaking about the future. I'm sure that you guys are
improving the product, product developments, innovation. Can you share anything
that you're particularly excited about?
Speaker 1 (15:36):
You know what's funny. We put a lot of effort
into the product, and I think in my book. It's
the title of perfection. It's close. I really I have
no desire to come up with anything else. I don't
have any desire to change it because it works and
it's simple. And the reason it works and simple is
from the beginning I knew I'd be scared. So it's
(15:58):
a sink pong to just push it down pullet, and
thank god that has been the intuitive nature and the
simplicity to save life every time in a very panic situation.
But I really have no desire to do anything else.
I want to finish my mission. I want to I
want to save a million lives. When they, you know,
(16:18):
throw dirt on me and if I'm not down, I'm
going to call my way out, They're gonna have to
hit me with the shovel. Because we have a chance
to do something really significant. No one has ever done this.
No one's ever cured a leading cause of death, no
one has ever changed these statistics, and there hasn't been
an innovation choking in sixty years. Yeah so, and no
(16:43):
one's ever given people with disability a chance. So I'm
good with finishing this one.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Your point, simplicity is key, right, because you are in
a panic in that moment, and making the products so
easy to use is I'm sure even a bigger factor
in saving all those I took.
Speaker 1 (17:01):
That as a sociologists by nature, mostly played hockey and
chase girls but in college. But the key to me
when I was doing it one of my first incarnations
was it got too complicated. I said, I was worried
about me. I said, I will screw it up, and
I made it yep. So I tossed it out and
I said, I got to come up with simple, intuitive,
(17:24):
dummy proof. Just pushing pulls many times you have to
go crazy. You'll get lucky. If you don't study your
train and practice a little, you'll get lucky. It'll come out.
It always has.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Absolutely all the positive that's going on. I'm sure that
along the way there could also be some hurdles. Can
you share with us some of the hurdles in the
industry or some of the challenges that you guys might
be facing right now?
Speaker 1 (17:46):
Well, the challenges have been in short, our society has
changed quite a bit. We were very afraid of the
right thing for legal purposes. I cannot tell you I
first started, I said, sixty kids that died in school.
I sent them an email saying I'll give you one
for free. You don't want that to happen again. Fifty
(18:07):
nine ignored it. One called us and said, we're in litigation.
Don't talk to us. The battle of moral meaning you know,
we don't think we're allowed to use it. Now you
think about what you're saying. My school is going to
let this kid die because we are afraid of litigation.
(18:27):
And it's been hard. I almost punched two people. But
just sit there and listen to that. And so you
would let a kid die because you're afraid of getting
in trouble. But you would not believe how much of
a hurdle that is. We're not in every school. Why
not was nine kids died last year? But it's amazing
(18:48):
and I've learned a lot about our change in our cultures.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
You know that.
Speaker 1 (18:54):
When someone says that to me, I'm like, what is
wrong with you? Even if I was going to get
in trouble who was a kid and you said I
save and you're going to kill me, I'd say kill me.
I'm gonna save the kid bad good sixty years. He
deserves it. But to hear that it has been so brutal.
Thank god the Red Cross came along. We can blame
them because everyone would say that's not the right crowd.
(19:17):
And I say, well, that doesn't mean you let the
kid die. You saved the kids.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
You do everything possible right, But that's what you.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
Would think is a normal human being. And so many
hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of we're not allowed. Okay,
you're not allowed to save a kid, but it's all
wrong by law, you're supposed to supposed to do anything reasonable.
There's no rules or laws that say you can't do
this or that. It's all bs. But our brains have
(19:45):
become so scared, scared saw who cares? But the really
frustrating part is backwards. You're supposed to save a life.
You get in trouble when they die, not for trying
to save them. I think I get a little emotional
about this man. And luckily I didn't punch the two people.
(20:08):
If they were guys, I would have punched definitely. One
was it, Uh, it was in Washington. It was a
There was a conference and I had a safety and
they had both said, well, we have no idea how
to save someone in a choking emergency. And I was
sitting next to the head of school disability of time.
I said, there you go, right there. She says, yeah,
(20:31):
you know you should call the eight hundred line. I said,
I'm sitting next to you and you just heard them.
That would have been a punch in the face, but
it was a woman can't punch.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
That makes sense. So for anyone tuning in right now
that might have an idea like you did, right they
might want to create a new invention, or they might
see something that they want to course correct and they're
standing in their garage right now, what is the advice
you would give them?
Speaker 1 (20:56):
Well, sadly, the first thing I would say, obviously you
got to research and make it doesn't exist. I would say,
you're gonna your patent is probably going to be worthless.
You need to be prepared for getting knocked off and
not succeeding. I think if it's something of moral significance,
you know you do it anyway.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
But I would tell people be careful because if you
think you're going to get a patent and that's going
to protect you, you're wrong. We'll knock it off, put
it in Amazon, put you out of business. So if
particularly if it's relatively inexpensive, so I would say, you know,
you've got to go for it, but just have that
(21:40):
in the back of your head that eventually it's going
to get taken over and stolen. Yep, sad. Yeah, Well
the best way I can see is trademarks and copyrights.
But it doesn't matter. Look, we're FDA proved registered and
we work with the FDA. So my device is being
(22:01):
knocked off and it's illegal. It's federally illegal. So if
you make this cup and it's a better cup, as
soon as you hit a decent sales number, they will
copy it. Don't matter. Patent mine's illegal to do and
it's all over. So it's a cautionary tale. I'm not
(22:21):
saying don't do it. I'm saying, if I had to
give you one piece of advice, don't be lulled into
your patent. It's going to protect you. Don't care sip
the Amazon and wipe you out.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
Real advice, Yes, needed, sad, But that's the case. Anyone's
tuning in and they want to purchase the Life Act product,
or they want to be involved in the mission and
help gain awareness. What should be the call to action?
Speaker 1 (22:46):
Just go to lifeback dot net and you know you
can purchase it, and you know I or Mark make
your own choice. If you have a child, I would
say I would highly recommend it, live alone, have a disability,
or your elderly, those are the ones I really would
You know, young and them, go for it, and you're
probably gonna be all right. But those are the ones
where for others you probably should consider having it. It's
(23:09):
life fact dot that there's information, there's contact for him too.
You know you want to help or you have the
capability to institute it, tell us what we can do this.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
It's great. I myself am a dad. I have two
at home. I have one at home and I carry
one in the diaper bags. It's with us at all times.
Speaker 1 (23:27):
You would not believe save we've gotten from the diaper
bag of other people. Bring it out of a park.
How at a restaurant. We had a save at SeaWorld
that I love, Ladies to have it inner diaper bag.
Person with a disability choked. Everyone stood there.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
No one knew what to do.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
The mom who carried for her little child saved the
person with disability. And we have hundreds of good smartan saves.
Speaker 2 (23:53):
It's awesome. Well, thank you for sharing your story with
us before we wrap up. I know we touched on
this a little bit earlier, but I'd love to just
and on a on a high note years from now.
What do you want life act in yourself to be
remembered for him? What do you guys want your mission
to be that you accomplished?
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I think, not me. I think it would the story
would be great. I was thinking about this. You know,
you don't know Henry Ford. You don't know these people,
right an. I would like the story of that guy
who did this started as garage and changed the world.
You can too. So it's not me. I'm dirt and dust.
(24:31):
Whatever the story connected to what it did. Meaning my
kids say, because some crazy guy went his garage and
changed the world, right, I'm gone. Who kids, That's what
I want. That's what I'd love to see for us
to persevere, to get future innovation, future cards, future change,
(24:51):
make a difference.
Speaker 2 (24:53):
Not me.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Maybe a statue with a pigeon. I always thought it'd
be fun if he was like, you know, we made it,
so he landed and pooped on me. That's not me,
it's the mission. It's the statement that you can change
the world. You can do it. You can do it
right from your garage and now I know I did it. Yep,
and that's what you need to know.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
That's awesome. Well, Arthur, thank you so much for coming
in today, for sharing your story. It definitely is a
story of inspiration. And you guys are doing amazing work.
So thank you for everything that you and the entire
Life Act is doing well.
Speaker 1 (25:23):
You and your team here have been so good to
us and I greatly appreciate it. And we have a
chart of how medias save lives. I look forward to
you guys climbing it because we will get a message
that says I heard about our heart and I save
my kid and me and you are going to have
a handshake and a little cry and say that's the
important media.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
Yeah, well I'm looking forward to that. Mean we're honored
to be able to get this very important message out
there and work with you guys for many more years
to come. Thank you guys for tuning in. Please tune
in next week for next week's edition of CEOs. You
should know. Awesome, great job, that was fun, that was
great time.
Speaker 1 (26:02):
Oh you did good. Thanks you work a lot.
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Try try to keep it up,
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