High school coach reunites with San Clemente firefighter who saved his life

An Orange County man who suffered a heart attack on a pickleball court last month reunited with the off-duty firefighter who saved his life.

"One minute you're there and enjoying time with friends," Pickleball player Rob Frith said. "It hit me so fast I dropped on the back of my head."

Frith, who coaches football at San Juan Hills High School, remembered nothing after his heart stopped last month until he woke up in the ambulance to the hospital. 

He told a crowd at Orange County Fire Authority Station 59 that firefighter John Rowlands saved his life. 

"I'm 1,000% an advocate for you have to act. You can't hesitate," Frith said. "If someone goes down, you assess the situation. Don't feel a pulse, no breathing, you have to start chest compressions. Chest compressions saved my life."

Rowlands, who is about to celebrate his third anniversary on the job, was off-duty and playing on the next pickleball court when Frith had his heart attack. He ran over as soon as he saw Frith go down. He spent 10-15 minutes giving chest compressions until paramedics arrived. 

"At first, it was just being there and making that he was stable," Rowlands said. "He was breathing. He was just unconscious, and as soon as he started to deteriorate, I just knew you have to start chest compressions, keep the blood circulating. 

Several other things went in Frith's favor that day, including the arrival of an Orange County Sheriff's deputy with an automated external defibrillator, or AED for short.

Rowlands, along with a retired firefighter and nurse, all worked to keep Frith alive with the defibrillator and chest compressions. Doctors treating him for the sudden cardiac arrest eventually found an undetected heart defect.

"This means everything," Frith's wife Tara Frith said to Rowlands. "You are our forever hero, along with the other men that were there with you that day. I cannot thank you enough."

Frith's wife, son and daughter shared the emotional reunion with Rowlands. 

"It felt good," Rowlands said. "It was really cool to know that we had the right people there at the right time to keep a family together."