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Little leaguer back on the mound after nurse saves his life

On the field of dreams, Patrick Plunkett faced a nightmare common among young athletes.
Patrick Plunkett and his parents are grateful that nurse Katie Patel, right, was there to perform CPR.

GIBSONTON, FL -- On the field of dreams, Patrick Plunkett faced a nightmare common among young athletes.

In July last year, the now 13-year-old was on the pitcher's mound when the batter hit a line drive that struck him right on the heart.

Reporter: You don’t remember too much?

Patrick: No.

Patrick went into cardiac arrest and fell to the ground. It was a terrifying sight for his parents Patrick Sr. and Kris.

“That was the worst moment of my life, watching my son lay on the field not breathing and them doing CPR on him,” Kris said.

Angels jumped to Patrick’s side.

Nurse Katie Patel, who did not see the accident but heard the thud, knew she had to help.

“I threw my coffee and my bag at my son’s coach and I said, 'I gotta go' and I ran right onto the field,” Katie said.

She performed CPR and Patrick came back to life. There was a sigh of relief for everyone when he opened his eyes.

“We said, 'Patrick can you hear us, are you OK,' he looked around for a second and he was like, 'What?' And, then he was like 'I’m fine,' he wanted to get up,” Katie added.

On Saturday, he threw out the honorary first pitch to kick off the season for East Bay Youth Athletics.

Following what happened, Katie now has a message for you. Everyone should be CPR certified because you never know if you’ll be in a position to save a life.

“If you are doing CPR, then you are keeping their blood flowing, so the sooner you can start, the better.”

Thanks to Katie, Patrick is back on the diamond.

“You know it’s really, really scary, but you can’t stand in the way of your child’s dreams. He does wear chest protection, he wears a heart guard shirt,” said Patrick’s father.

Reporter: Knowing what Katie and all those people did for you, what does it mean to you?

Patrick: Something words can’t explain.

“She’s my hero,” Kris added.

Katie along with East Bay Youth Athletics is hosting free CPR training for anyone who attends the games. There’s a gofundme page to raise funds for it.

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