Young Heart Attack Survivor Comes Face-To-Face With Officers Who Gave Him Lifeline

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com) — After surviving a heart attack, a college student came face-to-face with the officers in Santa Ana who gave him a lifeline.

For the first time since Jesse Anderson from Cypress was near death, the 20-year-old met the four men who helped him save him back in March.

"I'm happy to be here today and meet the people who saved me," said Anderson, who remembers nothing from the incident.

Anderson collapsed at the concert venue, The Observatory, in Santa Ana during a show.

"We were just telling him, 'C'mon, you can do it. Just don't give up,' " said Ken DeCou, a paramedic. "And the whole time I'm looking into his eyes and just thinking the worst."

All these months, Anderson wanted to meet the two Santa Ana police officers, and the paramedic and security guard on-staff who brought him back to life.

Using CPR, they pumped on Anderson's chest, pushed air into his lungs.

The men refused to quit until Anderson took a breath. He has been told the story:

"I was so far gone that people told them to stop doing CPR and one of them decided to keep going and I'm just thankful."

Cpl. Oscar Lizarti trains officers in CPR. He says he saw his own son's face as he stared into Anderson's eyes.

"We did hear comments like, that he was dead. 'Stop. Stop. He's dead.' Somebody from the crowd. I have a 14-year-old son. The first thing that came to my mind is, 'This is somebody's son' and there is no way I'm gonna stop," Lizarti said.

It's already been decided by the chief that Cpl. Lizarti and Officer Rodriguez will be receiving the department's life-saving medals.