Deputy thanks DC firefighters for saving his life after suffering heart attack during hockey game

WASHINGTON - A St. Mary's County deputy is grateful to be alive thanks to some quick-thinking first responders.

On April 7, David Corcoran was playing goalie for the U.S. Capitol Police Department's hockey team facing off against D.C. firefighters at the DC Firefighters Burn Foundation benefit tournament when he went into cardiac arrest.

Corcoran had no pulse and eight members of the D.C. Fire and EMS Department quickly jumped into action to performed CPR on him right on the ice. After a few minutes, Corcoran regained his pulse and was transported to the hospital.

"When I woke up, I didn't quite know what happened," said Corcoran. "I thought I just passed out. When I woke up and I was like, 'Get off me, get off me. I'm okay.' I was told, 'No, this is a little more serious, you had a heart attack' and explained everything. Somebody to my right, whoever was doing most of the talking, said something like, 'We got your back. You're going to make it.'"

Over a month later, Corcoran finally got the chance to thank the heroes who saved his life.

"I want to thank these guys behind me," Corcoran said. "It's all about them. If it's not for them, I wouldn't be standing here. My family, my friends, everybody in my world is internally grateful for everything they did to keep me alive and allow me to be here today."

Despite the medical emergency on the ice, Corcoran and the firefighters were still able to joke around about the result of the hockey game. Corcoran blamed the heart attack for his team trailing at the time.

"It was 8-0 when the heart attack happened," he said. "As a goalie, I take pride and definitely the heart attack inhibited my ability to stop some of those pucks. I'm sure it would have been three or four to nothing. We were on our way to a comeback I felt like."