Northern Colorado man saved by Denver firefighter at children's basketball game during cardiac arrest

A Greeley father says he is lucky to be alive after suffering cardiac arrest during a basketball game in February. 

David McLarty, who did not have any prior symptoms or familial history of cardiac arrest, said he collapsed in a school gym while playing basketball. 

"I was playing against my daughter in a parent versus kids basketball game," McLarty told CBS Colorado. 

McLarty was playing in the S. Christa McAuliffe STEM Academy gymnasium in Greeley when he suddenly felt ill and had difficulty breathing. 

"I was feeling fine until I started running from one end of the court to the other, and I noticed I was having a hard time breathing," McLarty explained. "I got tunnel vision and ended up just collapsing right here on the floor."

In the stands watching the game was Alonso Gallardo, the grandfather of one of the student athletes. 

Gallardo said he initially wasn't planning on attending the game but decided to show up at the last minute because he loves watching his granddaughter play sports. 

"I immediately got up," Gallardo told CBS Colorado. "I started to perform CPR."

Someone grabbed the AED from the hallway while Gallardo and his daughter performed CPR on McLarty. 

Fortunately for McLarty, Gallardo was the perfect person to have nearby during the cardiac arrest.

"I am a 25-year veteran of the Denver Fire Department," Gallardo said. 

Gallardo connected the AED to McLarty and had to shock him twice. Ultimately, McLarty regained consciousness and was breathing again. 

"I had no idea what had happened or what was going on," McLarty said. 

He was rushed to UCHealth Greeley Hospital before ultimately being transferred to UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies. 

"One of the ER doctors asked me what it was like to survive the number one cause of sudden death, since I had had a sudden cardiac arrest," McLarty explained. 

At the hospital, McLarty met nurse practitioner Annaliese Jordan. 

"To have a young person go down during an event like that is rare," Jordan said. "All the stars aligned."

Jordan said the story of McLarty's survival should serve as a reminder for people to get trained in CPR and how to use AED's. Jordan said children 9 years and older should also consider being trained for CPR. 

"AED's are designed for anybody to go grab off a wall and start to use," Jordan said. "So nobody should ever feel they cannot grab an AED if they see it."

With a new lease on life, McLarty said he can't help but be grateful for every day he has. 

"I survived a really deadly event that I had no business surviving," McLarty said. "It gave me a really fresh perspective on life to take beauty in every single day and live life to the fullest every day."

Both McLarty and Gallardo said they don't feel it was coincidental that Gallardo decided to attend the game, rather both saying it was by greater design. 

"I think God put me in the right place at the right time," Gallardo said. 

"If this had happened anywhere else, I am convinced I wouldn't be alive today," McLarty said.