It was the day John Nash almost died. Yet, the Camarillo man has almost no memory of it.
"Nothing," he said. "I remember waking up and going to play golf that morning, and that was the end of it. That was on a Sunday. I woke up in a hospital on Thursday."
Nash had suffered a heart attack.
The odds weren't with him. Last year, Ventura County first responders handled 660 cardiac arrest calls. Despite advanced training, state-of-the-art equipment, and fast response times, only 20 of those people fully recovered.
But last April 19, Nash, with the help of his wife and some first responders, beat those odds.
"Johnny golfed, and I played tennis," said Mary Nash, John's wife. "I texted him and said we should get in the jacuzzi. He said okay. He turned the jacuzzi on, and I went out and made sure things were all in order, with towels. As he was coming out, he said he wasn't feeling great and didn't want to stay in long. I was across the jacuzzi from him, and he was talking to me, and he just slumped down and went blank. I went across the jacuzzi, I pulled him up, and said, 'John', and all of a sudden his eyes rolled back in his head.
Nash wasted no time in reaching out for help.
"Luckily, I had my phone available. It was sitting there. I screamed, 'Siri, dial 911!' They (the 911 dispatchers) said to get him up and walked me through what to do for him. I held him up, and they told me to pop his head back to get his airway open until they got there. I kept the phone on speakerphone until they arrived. They got there in about seven minutes."
AMR paramedics reached the couple’s home first. They pulled Nash out of the jacuzzi and started CPR.
"Checked for pulse, checked for breathing, and none of that was there. We immediately started CPR. I think we shocked him (using defibrillator paddles) five or six times total. We eventually got the pulse back," said Paramedic Kyle Chromey. "The odds when someone's heart stops are not the greatest. Last time I saw him, he was unconscious. To see him talking, and with it, with no side effects is amazing."
Nash spent five days at Los Robles Regional Medical Center.
"One of the arteries got clogged," said Nash. "It was blocked at about 95%. But they put a stent in, and I am back to normal."
Now, the couple is at Ventura County Fire Station 52 in Camarillo, which sent the firefighters who responded to their 911 call. There's a special breakfast prepared by firefighters to celebrate John Nash’s recovery, as well as the role the paramedics and firefighters had in saving him.
"Most of our cardiac arrest patients don't survive. It's a very small percentage of people that actually do. It's pretty rewarding to have that sense of impacting someone's life where you are giving them more days on Earth," said Ventura County Fire Department Captain Robert Miner, who was part of the team of firefighters that helped Nash.
Mike Lopez headed up the team of AMR paramedics who responded to the emergency.
"I'm glad that we were able to get there quickly and have a good outcome. I think the stars really aligned for this patient."
The couple is grateful for the first responders and that the 64-year-old man is healthy and able to enjoy life with their kids and grandkids.
"I don't think they always get the kind of result they got here. I'm very fortunate," said John Nash.
"We were just very blessed by what they did. It was amazing, and that's why we have him here today," said Mary Nash.
