JUNAITA COUNTY, Pa (WHTM) — February is American Heart Month, and it has more meaning for a Juniata County man. He went into cardiac arrest at work, and he was saved with the help of his coworkers and EMS.

Now, he wants people to know the importance of being trained in CPR.

“And the last thing I remember is I stood up and my coworker heard the caster on my chair turning and heard a thud,” said Sydney Freyermuth.

Sidney Freyermuth went into cardiac arrest at work on June 24, 2019, and four years later he is still feeling the effects of it.

“They tried CPR and then they hit you with the shock apparently I was not coming around ” Sidney Freyermuth.

After Sidney fell, his co-workers performed CPR until EMS arrive. Then, he was taken to UPMC Harrisburg for further evaluation by Dr. William Apollo.

“Sidney’s a lucky guy that he’s been able to recover from this event and get back to a normal life.” Dr. William Apollo is a cardiologist, for UPMC Harrisburg.

According to the American Heart Association, 436,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest in one year alone. And to Dr. Apollo, UPMC is not the only hero in this story.

“I think one of the things that impacted heavily his chances of survival was the fact that he had coworkers who knew how to do CPR,” said Dr. Apollo.

Sydney wanted to meet the team that saved his life and encourage others to get CPR training as soon as possible.

“Everyone should learn how to do CPR and effective CPR and they should also learn how to do or how to appropriately use an AED you never know when these events could happen, and it could result in saving someone’s life,” said Dr. Apollo.