He\u2019s marking the one-year anniversary of his cardiac arrest with another show at the same club. And he\u2019s using his experience to encourage people to get trained in CPR and to advocate for more access to emergency defibrillators at performance venues.<\/p>\n
Rush to the stage<\/p>\n
R\u00f6kker\u2019s onstage heart attack was captured on video at the Gamma Ray bar in downtown Madison on Dec. 26, 2024. He said he wants people to see the video.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the reasons that I released the video is because, like, a drowning, people maybe think there\u2019s this big splashing and I\u2019m drowning and yelling. No, they fall right under the waves.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said it\u2019s similar in a case of sudden cardiac arrest. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou just slump over and you\u2019re gone,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd really, you\u2019re really gone, unless there are other people there who won\u2019t let you go.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what happened on stage. The staff and audience kicked off a series of actions that saved R\u00f6kker\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
The first step was cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. That\u2019s a regular rhythm of chest compressions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chain of survival means that you need CPR immediately to keep oxygen kind of flowing,\u201d R\u00f6kker said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Maryl Johnson is a UW Health cardiologist who provided care for R\u00f6kker after the emergency. She said CPR can make the difference between life and death. <\/p>\n
\u201cEMS can get there pretty rapidly,\u201d she said. \u201cBut the minimum amount of time that people can be without blood flow to the brain, blood flow to the other organs, that\u2019s critical to their good survival.\u201d<\/p>\n
Like R\u00f6kker, Johnson encourages people to get trained in CPR. She said the training has changed over the years, with a focus on chest compressions, and without the rescue breaths that people might remember from older classes. <\/p>\n
![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/ORIGINAL_to_JPEG-Maryl-Johnson-MD.jpg\")
Dr. Maryl Johnson, UW Health Cardiologist. Photo courtesy of UW Health<\/p>\n
Shock to the heart<\/p>\n
But CPR was just part of R\u00f6kker\u2019s survival story. The Madison Fire Department arrived in six minutes and supplied a shock from a defibrillator.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe magic number is seven minutes,\u201d R\u00f6kker said. \u201cAfter seven minutes of CPR without shock, things start to look bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why R\u00f6kker is working to get more performance venues to install automated external defibrillators, or AEDs. He said many larger clubs have them but it can be a stretch for smaller venues like Gamma Ray.<\/p>\n
Johnson said AED devices are lifesavers, and they\u2019re relatively easy to use.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cThe sooner we get back normal, consistent heart rhythm, the better blood flow we get to the brain and the other body organs, and the more likely there is a successful outcome for the patient,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
![\"R\u00f6kker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/thumbnail_rokker-drums-crucible-keith-wessel.jpg\")
R\u00f6kker\u2019s return to the stage in early September 2025. Photo courtesy of Keith Wessel<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t stop rocking<\/p>\n
R\u00f6kker\u2019s survival story continued after CPR and the defibrillator, with emergency treatment, a defibrillator implant and long-term health and diet changes. He\u2019s been working toward the anniversary show, after his first return to performing in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it was just an incredible journey to get back to that point,\u201d he said, \u201cbecause I really looked at being able to play my drums as, hey, where are you in your health journey?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said playing a set with his band has been a good target for his health and endurance. \u201cBecause, hey, let\u2019s face it, I use big sticks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sitting on stage behind his drum kit, Wisconsin musician R\u00f6kker was clicking off the beat for the next…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[146,163,85,46,409,43,112400],"class_list":{"0":"post-201008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-music","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-rock-nn-roll"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}