An off-duty police officer saved a man's life after he collapsed while working out in a CrossFit gym in Minnesota.
Sara Vermilyea, a member of Timberwolf CrossFit in Roseville, Minnesota, told NBC affiliate KARE of Minneapolis that her family was taking a class together when her father, Pat, fell down.
"Everything was totally fine, and then my dad was walking back towards the wall where we were doing wall-sits, and he kind of knelt down and he took a knee," she said.
That's when South St. Paul Police Sgt. Mike Dahl, who was working out on his own behind the class, saw a man fall to the floor. "Someone said he isn’t breathing, so I jumped right in — didn't even think about it," Dahl told KARE.
"(I) started doing chest compressions, and thank God the owners here have an (automated external defibrillator) on site, which is very important," Dahl added, referring to a device used to help someone experiencing sudden cardiac arrest. "(I) asked someone to grab that for me."
Vermilyea said Dahl quickly jumped into action, assigning roles for other people to check her father's pulse and clearing a path for EMTs when they came inside the gym.
Dahl said this wasn't his first time administering CPR, but it was his first time doing CPR that saved someone's life — and that he doesn't take that lightly.
"Right place, right time, my training just kind of kicked in," Dahl said. "Just what we do every day, so I’m very happy I could be in that position for Pat."
Vermilyea said her father is recovering in the hospital, and that doctors believe he had a sudden cardiac death, also known as sudden cardiac arrest, when one's heart stops beating unexpectedly, according to Cleveland Clinic.
Vermilyea explained her father has had heart issues in the past, including a triple-bypass surgery, but that he's been symptom-free since. Her parents even joined the Timberwolf gym last year after they saw "how important health is, and fitness," she said.
She added that she's glad that her father will be able to attend her upcoming wedding in May and her sister's wedding later next year.
"He gave us that gift of my dad being there," she said of Dahl.
