Sacramento County Deputy Saves Potential Juror Whose Heart Stopped Twice

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — A Sacramento County Sheriff's deputy is being hailed as a hero after saving a potential juror's life from a heart attack.

The victim's heart stopped twice during the ordeal, but deputy and 10-year veteran John Gonzales says he refused to give up until paramedics arrived.

For Gonzales, it was anything but a normal Monday afternoon. The courtroom was busy and so was the hallway, where one of the potential jurors collapsed.

"He was still conscious, but fading pretty fast," he said.

With no pulse, the deputy and a nurse who happened to be at the courthouse went to work with CPR.

"He was in really bad shape. He was in a lot of pain," he said.

They brought him back, but then he was gone. The nurse continued. It was exhausting.

"And she said she can't go no more and I did to go. So I did and I kept going and he came back," he said.

Gonzales refused to give up.

"I expected him to come back. I expected it," he said. "It's kind of what you expect when you're trying to save somebody's life and when he did I was like, 'yeah, yeah, great.'"

For those looking on like Aaron Odabashian, it was surreal.

"The officer was doing compressions like crazy. It was really stunning. Everybody was taken back," he said.

The potential juror's heart stopped a second time, but with the help of a defibrillator, a determined deputy, and arriving paramedics, the victim survived.

"But honestly anybody that I work with in this building or this department would have done the same exact thing. Anybody," Gonzales said.