Jim McBride had a near-death experience when he suffered a cardiac arrest that turned into a life-changing rescue while in a Springfield YMCA hot tub.
He was rescued by a lifeguard and determined thereafter to become a lifeguard himself, writes Matteo Iadonisi for 6abc.
He now works next to the teen that saved his life.
The then-67-year-old had retired from his full-time job and got married.
McBride had found the pool at the Springfield Y to be a peaceful place where he would go to train for ocean swims in the summer.
“Got out of the pool, said goodbye to the lifeguards like I normally do, walked into the hot tub room, and like, the rest is history,” said McBride.
It was the quick thinking of two recently-hired teenagers that saved him.
“I run in there, grabbed him out of the hot tub fully, and then started CPR on him because he wasn’t breathing,” said Peter McMonagle.
McMonagle’s friend and co-worker, Gabriel DiEmidio, used an automatic external defibrillator and sounded the emergency alarm.
A year later, McBride is now a part-time lifeguard at the same pool.
“We’ll be friends forever,” he said. “I’ll be buying them lunch forever.”
Find out more about this life-changing rescue at 6abc.
