The topic of cardiac arrest has been in the news lately.
From the death of Lisa Marie Presley to the remarkable recovery of Damar Hamlin.
The headlines hit close to home for an Allen man, who just months ago, was at the right place at the right time when his heart stopped.
"I was hitting the bag with upper cuts. We were supposed to be doing upper cuts as fast as we could and the next thing I know, I'm in the hospital. My parents are there. My wife is there," said 41-year-old Isaiah Creighton.
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That's all he remembers of the day last year when his heart stopped beating in the middle of his normal workout.
"I did know that I had a slow heart condition but I never knew that a sudden cardiac arrest event could happen at any time" said Crieghton.
Luckily for him, he was surrounded by people who jumped in help.
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They gave him CPR until paramedics arrived to take him to Texas Health Allen.
Cardiac electrophysiologist Dr. Dale Yoo says bystander CPR right after cardiac arrest can double or triple a victim's chance of survival.
Only 32% of victims though get CPR right away.
"Many times they [cardiac arrest] happen while you're asleep in your house and no one's there to rescue you with bystander CPR," said Yoo.
Since Crieghton already had a pacemaker for a heart defect that he was born with, Yoo implanted a defibrilator to jump start his heart, in case it stops again.
"A defibrillator is basically, I call, an angel on the shoulder. It's there to do the job of bystander CPR, if you will, by getting him back his rhythm," said Yoo.
Crieghton is back throwing punches, facing no limitations and he says it's all thanks to the people around him who used CPR to save his life.
"It's good to know this stuff in case someone like myself never needs it," said Crieghton.
ONLINE: You can find a CPR course through the American Heart Association.
