BILLINGS — A Billings man is alive today because the people around him didn't hesitate when he went into cardiac arrest during a workout — and now he's sharing his story to encourage others to learn CPR.
Mick Brown said he works out five days a week, so a session at Orangetheory Fitness on Billings West End was nothing out of the ordinary. But after finishing a circuit, everything changed.
Watch Mick Brown talk about his experience:
"I told her all of a sudden I was feeling dizzy. And at that point I evidently passed out," Brown said Thursday.
Brown was in cardiac arrest. Within seconds, coaches and gym members jumped into action, starting CPR and grabbing the AED (automated external defibrillator).
"The fact that they were able to perform CPR on me immediately, but maybe that wouldn't have been enough. They had to start, they had to shock my heart to get it started again," Brown said.
Brown remembers very little from that day. But inside the gym, people stayed focused through the chaos.
"I was just holding Mick's head talking to him, and well, Stacey started the AED and started the compressions and all the things," member Dawn Rollinger said.
Stacey Ban, a coach, was one of the first to respond.
"He wasn't breathing. He wasn't responding, or breathing very shallow. He wasn't responding. And so just went into it while they grabbed the AED," Ban said.
Ban said every coach at the gym is required to complete CPR training.
"We actually go into, for our CPR training, you have the online training, then you have your hands-on training, and then that's through the American Red Cross," Ban said.
For Brown, that training made all the difference.
"Knowing that the coaches had all gone through CPR training, they have an AED hanging on the wall, which I've been into different fitness places and you don't see that," Brown said. "I probably wouldn't be here today if they hadn't."
Rollinger signed up to get CPR certified herself after witnessing the emergency.
"I mean, I jumped in anyway, but I now feel like I'm more skilled and know more about what the situation calls for, and how to help better," Rollinger said.
Brown said the heart rate monitors used in class also carry new meaning for him now.
"We have the different heart rate zones throughout, so you can see how that works through class, up to the red zone, over like 100% of your max heart rate, and then all the way down," Ban said.
Despite the life-changing moment, Brown is back in class — with a new perspective.
"The fact that I've just been renewed in my focus on life, that I need to be gracious for every day that I have to live," Brown said.
