Soccer Player's Life Saved By Opponents After Cardiac Arrest

Soccer Player's Life Saved By Opponents After Cardiac Arrest

25-year-old Nils Gulbranson went into cardiac arrest during a weekly men's league soccer match before two heroes teamed up to save his life.

WOODBURY, Minn. — If you look close enough, you'll find miracles everywhere.

For Nils Gulbranson, March 19 is a day full of them. "The last thing I remember is that the second half started."

The 25-year-old was playing in his weekly men's league soccer game that night when, all of a sudden, he went into cardiac arrest.

"One of our other teammates called my name to come back, and by that point you were lying on your back and not responding, and clearly something was wrong. You weren't recovering, and you started to turn purple and blue, and I couldn't feel a pulse, so we started CPR at that time, " said Derek Eklund, who was playing on the opposing team.That's when opponents Eklund and Scott Hunter quickly became Nils' biggest teammates.

"Derek and I went to college together, so we've known each other for a really long time. Derek was taking point, and I'll give breaths, and from that standpoint, and then luckily someone brought in an AED," said Scott Hunter, also playing on the opposing team.Those teammates also, miraculously, both work in the medical field.

"So we did CPR for probably six minutes, seven minutes or so. At that point, you appeared to be breathing, so I stopped, and you had a pulse," said Eklund.

The M Health Fairview Sports Center in Woodbury, also miraculously, contained AEDs.

"At that point, you stopped breathing again, and we lost your pulse, and we did have to use the defibrillator. Couple more minutes of CPR and then you started breathing again, and you started to get more color back into your face, and at that point, thankfully, you didn't require any more help after that," said Eklund.

"You know, by the grace of God, you guys were there, and you came over and saved my life. Both of you did," said Gulbranson.

"We were just glad to be a part of it," said Hunter.

"This is the most favorable outcome that could have happened, I mean, you're here, you're talking," said Eklund.

Nils was diagnosed with Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricular Cardiomyopathy, a rare genetic heart condition that affects the right ventricle of the heart.

"There's the surgery spot. I have an S-ICD (Subcutaneous Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) installed right there, with a little wire going up my sternum that's monitoring me 24/7 if there's irregular beats, or whatever, it would shock me back and prevent any of this from happening," said Gulbranson.

"Like I said, you're most welcome. I'd do it for you or anybody else. Just glad that I could be a part of it. You don't need to thank me anymore," said Hunter.

"Can I give both of you a hug?" asked Gulbranson.

"This is something that we're both going to have to share forever, you know?" said Eklund.

"Is the rest of my life going to have to change? Probably a little bit, I'm not going to be able to do certain things, but I'm grateful because I'm alive. Right? I'm here," said Gulbranson.

And that's... a miracle.

Click here for a fundraiser for Gulbranson's medical expenses.

SOURCE: KARE11