King County deputy, state trooper in the right place to save man’s life

A King County Sheriff’s deputy and a Washington State Patrol trooper are being commended for their quick-thinking that saves one man’s life while they were off duty.

Barry Madsen was getting ready for class at Phanton Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Maple Valley on June 17. Two of his neighbors – King County Sheriff’s Deputy Chris Kyle and State Patrol Trooper Karim Boukabou – were also there.

“I felt a little bit light-headed during the class,” Madsen said. “I would say it’s comparable to if you haven’t eaten anything all day and you kind of stand up too quick.”

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He chalked it up to not having had enough water since it was a hotter day. The class began with warm-up drills before they went into active sparring.

Madsen was supposed to spar with someone else, but called an audible.

“I just decided I was going to pick Deputy Kyle; because him and I are about the same size,” Madsen said. “The person I was supposed to roll with was a little bit smaller – quite a bit smaller than me.”

Less than a minute in, Deputy Kyle noticed something was wrong.

“He’s got me in a foot hold and I got him in an ankle lock and all of a sudden, he stops,” Kyle said. “So I stopped and I’m just kind of waiting because he wasn’t moving. So I sat up and then I looked into his eyes and he had a thousand-yard stare.

“His eyes were extremely dilated.”

They thought Madsen was suffering from a seizure. But when Madsen stopped breathing, Kyle noticed his heart stopped. Madsen had gone into cardiac arrest.

Kyle started chest compressions before the medics arrived to use a defibrillator. All the while, Trooper Boukabou worked with others to coordinate help – and stayed with Barry’s kids.

“The whole time, I was trying to get a hold of his family and his spouse, who’s pregnant,” Kyle said. “So I actually called my wife and was like ‘Go to their house and get them and bring them here.’”

Madsen was revived and taken to a nearby hospital. He was released a few days later – but doctors are not sure what caused him to go into cardiac arrest.

“The doctors tell me there’s less than one percent chance it will ever happen again, but I’m still going to get an internal defibrillator put in,” Madsen said.

But Madsen believes he just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

“I definitely feel like anybody else there – I most likely would not be around,” Madsen said. “But the other crazy part is that it wasn’t exercise induced. I could have just as easily been at home when it happened, or out walking the dog.”

Both Deputy Kyle and Trooper Boukabou have received honors from their agencies for their quick-thinking. Kyle says the biggest reward is seeing his neighbor alive and happy – a reward not necessarily possible with other calls.

“He’s got two small boys now and he just had his third child, and he’s my age,” Kyle said. “Knowing that he’s able to be there and be a dad is the best thing you could ever wish for.”

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