SAN DIEGO — A hiker who collapsed from a heart attack says he's alive today because of an act of kindness from strangers at Mission Trails.
The man reached out to CBS 8 to help find the good Samaritans who gave him CPR.
Forty-one-year-old Michael Mendez says on Feb. 20, President’s Day, around 12 p.m. or 1 p.m. he was coming back after a half-hour hike on Grasslands Loops Trail when he collapsed.
He says he was just feet from his car that was east of Bushy Hills Drive on Father Junipero Serra Trail.
“The next thing I know I work up in an [Sharp Grossmont Hospital] ICU unit with my parents and my brother around my bed,” said Mendez.
Doctors told him he suffered a heart attack. This was his second since 2021. Heart disease runs in his family and now he has three stints in his heart.
“It took me a while to wrap my head around it. Weeks, still to this day it's hard to understand how close to not being here,” said Mendez.
As he spoke about his survival on the trail, a tear ran down his cheek. This was the first time he’d been back to Mission Trails since his last heart attack in February.
“This is by far one of my favorite places to walk and relax and clear my head, now it's a place that I'm scared to go for a jog,” said Mendez.
He had hoped that CBS 8 could help with that healing. He reached out to CBS 8 to find and meet the good Samaritan who gave him CPR.
“I really just want to thank this person and ask if they want to be my best friend. It is such a huge favor they provided to a complete stranger,” said Mendez.
But they were no stranger to saving lives.
“I can't imagine how you can do that [CPR] for checking someone's pulse for 14 minutes and keeping fighting it and nothing there and keep pumping on someone's chest. I really, really appreciate them doing it,” said Mendez.
CBS 8 emailed and called surrounding fire departments to see who responded, we also checked hospitals and Falk Mobile Health Corp. to track down the emergency crews and good Samaritan.
The Santee Fire Department confirmed it was their crew who responded, and the good Samaritans were an off-duty Chula Vista Fire Fighter and an off-duty UCSD Emergency Department physician.
“I thank God. I don't think it was my time. I would have felt cheated,” said Mendez.
On Friday, CBS 8 planned a reunion with the off-duty firefighter and the Santee Fire Department.
"Thank you for being there that day and not thinking twice and going off instinct, one second I wouldn’t be standing here," said Mendez.
Jacques Beauchaine says he was hiking with his wife and twin girls when his wife saw Mendez collapse and yelled for help.
"We were able to pull you up on a speed bump and give you CPR, there was an ER doctor who showed up," said Beauchaine.
CBS 8 invited the doctor to the reunion but she said there were conflicts in her schedule this week.
Beauchaine's family also attended the reunion. The third grade twins saw what happened and had worried about Mendez.
"I'm glad he is ok. My dad said, he is going to live a long life," said Jacquelyn Beauchaine.
The Santee Fire Department says that area of Mission Trails has a multijurisdictional response.
"We had some back and forth communication and I advised them regardless to start to one of our ambulances," said Matt Brown, Santee Fire Department.
Firefighters don't often know the outcome of a call. They say they are grateful for the reunion.
"I think it's important for our crews to get a big win when a life is saved and it's important to cherish those moments," said Brown.
ORIGINAL COVERAGE: Hiker searches for people who saved his life with CPR on Mission Trails
June 1-7 was National CPR and AED Awareness Week.
The American Heart Association reports each year around 356,000 people suffer cardiac arrest in the U.S and only 11% survive.
Statics show that you can triple the chances of survival by acting quickly. The City of San Diego has produced a video in English and in Spanish to inform the public on what to do in an emergency.
WATCH RELATED: Hiker's death brings attention to staying safe on the trails (May 2023).