In November, Nicholas Smith was given a one-percent chance to survive after a heart attack.
After less than two weeks of treatment, Smith walked out of the hospital and has since made a full recovery.
On Monday, he thanked the first responders of Sunstar Paramedics and Clearwater Fire and Rescue who helped save his life.
"I had to hold it back, I had to hold back my emotions as best I could,” Smith said.
Smith, a cancer survivor, collapsed inside his Clearwater apartment on November 17.
"Everything started going black, I went down on a knee and started covering my head up and fell,” Smith said.
Smith’s fiancé, Ryen Hauck, sprang into action.
"It was definitely the scariest moment of my entire life,” Hauck said.
Hauck had never done CPR before, but worked on Smith for six minutes until help arrived.
"I know there were some times that she might have wanted to quit, she got pretty tired," Smith said. "But the 911 operator kept her going, kept her pushing on until the first responders could get there.”
First responders administered critical medication and continued to administer CPR. Both are key reasons why Smith made his remarkable recovery.
“The amount of gratitude is so immense it was almost impossible to find words that fit,” Smith said. He had plenty of words, however, to express his feelings about learning CPR.
"Even if you use it one time, even if you never use it, it’s a skill worth having,” Smith said.
"For every minute you delay CPR, survival goes down 10%," said Dr. Robert Sanchez of the American Heart Association. "But if you do CPR you double or triple chances of survival.”
February is American Heart Month. The American Heart Association has committed to training 150,000 people how to do CPR by June 2017.
Those interested in taking CPR classes can contact Charlene Cobb from Sunstar Paramedics at (727) 582-2056, or Amanda Palumbo, community health director at American Heart Association Tampa Bay, at (727) 563-8006.