Father shows thanks to sons, cops for life-saving CPR following sudden heart attack
SOUTH BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (WABC) -- A man in New Jersey is crediting the swift action of his kids and first responders for saving his life after he collapsed from a heart attack following a basketball game that he coached.
James and Yetunede Hart will celebrate 20 years of marriage in May, a milestone he almost did not make.
"They say I had the widow maker, they said I had a heart attack and that I had a full blockage in that particular artery," James Hart said.
However, this is a story with a happy ending, thanks to Daniel, Sam and Gabriel Hart.
They were coming home with their father. He had just coached their basketball game, when he nearly collapsed driving home.
"And as he's getting in he trips over and he stumbles and he falls on the walkway on the concrete," Sam Hart said.
Daniel Hart said they got him in and then he started chest compressions.
"My first thought was that it was a stroke and not a heart attack, so I turned him over and saw the blood in his face and nose," Sam Hart said.
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"I called the 911 and they said, 'what's your emergency?'" Gabriel Hart said.
James Harts' boys were the heroes that saved his life.
"Driving home, the boys told me I was swerving that car, I had chest pains I don't remember any of that," he said.
Luckily, the older boys knew CPR. Daniel Hart learned at Crossroads South Middle School.
Within four minutes, South Brunswick police officers Kyle Klemas and Aaron Parks were at the doorstep.
"We immediately started CPR, Kyle started the chest compressions, I put the defibrillator on him and then the oxygen," Parks said.
James Hart has no recollection of any of this, but his sons do. On Wednesday, they received certificates for their quick action.
"The kids were awesome, the kids were fantastic," Parks said.
It shows that knowing CPR can be a life saver. they boys' father is grateful and alive, and Yetunede Hart is grateful for all of the men in her home.
"I just thank everyone that was involved," Yetunede Hart said. "My boys, cops, paramedics, hospital staff."
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