Anderson HS Alum Helps Rescue Fellow Lifeguard and Classmate
Over the summer of 2023, two short months after graduating from Anderson High School, Kaden Bardone had just arrived for his evening shift as a lifeguard supervisor at Coney Island. Before he even had the chance to clock in, he heard the signal for an emergency in the swimming pool and was one of the first people to respond.
“It’s kind of foggy. It was almost like an adrenaline rush,” Bardone recalls. “But, I went into autopilot and did what I knew I was supposed to do.”
His training kicked in and he worked with other lifeguards on duty to administer CPR for a colleague who had fallen unconscious while trying to rescue a guest. The lifeguard in need happened to be his friend and fellow Anderson High School Class of 2023 graduate Claire Lahrman.
“I just really couldn’t believe it happened,” Lahrman said. “That was not my first time jumping in to save someone.”
Bardone and Lahrman say it’s not quite clear what caused things to go awry when she responded to the first situation, but CPR by her lifeguard team members and treatment by paramedics with Anderson Township Fire and Rescue helped restore her heartbeat. Lahrman spent multiple days in the intensive care unit, unconscious, and was in the hospital for more than two weeks recovering.
“I don’t remember anything from that day, and the first thing I remember is when they woke me up after four days,” Lahrman said. “I kept asking my mom ‘what happened’ over and over again.”
Thankfully, Lahrman says her health is normal now and she hasn’t noticed any issues since last July. The guest she jumped in to save also survived. Lahrman and Bardone, who have been friends since seventh grade, are grateful for the way things ultimately turned out that day.
“I wasn’t even supposed to work that day,” Bardone said. “I had maybe been at work for five minutes when that happened. I think the fact that I took that shift the day before and that happened was more than a coincidence.”
Kaden Bardone and Claire Lahrman graduated from AHS in 2023. Bardone is now attending The Ohio State University to study civil engineering, and Lahrman attends Saint Louis University to study physical therapy.
