A man passed out in Walmart Wednesday night, but good Samaritans in the store rushed to his side to perform CPR and bring him back to consciousness.
The sun shined a little brighter for Sam Smith as he sat on his front porch Thursday with a new lease on life.
"The way that I look at it, basically I was dead," he explained.
The day before he said he nearly lost his life, or would have if it wasn't for a few good Samaritans.
"I'm 100 percent certain that if they hadn't been there I would not be here," Smith said.
It was Wednesday afternoon, about 5 p.m. Smith was at the Wal-Mart pharmacy in Madisonville.
"I was heading towards the pick up line to pick up my prescription." All of a sudden, "I just started feeling real weak and faint."
Smith collapsed as he tried to reach for a metal bench to stable himself, that's the last thing he remembers.
Patrons quickly sprang into action, coming to Smith's aid. One woman began CPR as Smith began to regain consciousness.
"I actually could feel my cheeks expanding, she was putting quite a bit of pressure in there and I think someone was pressing on my chest at the same time," Smith recalled.
Smith said a registered nurse nearby told him he had stopped breathing, another man attempted to find his pulse.
"He said 'you didn't have a heartbeat. You didn't have a pulse, I couldn't find one,'" he said.
He believed his life was saved by the people who helped him.
"I want to say thank you because I think that without them I would be dead, seriously. I don't mean that jokingly," Smith said.
Smith has battled cancer and underwent open heart surgery but said he has never experienced and episode like that.
"I really would like for those people to know that I appreciate what they did," said Smith.
Smith said he has made it his mission to to find the people who helped him so he can thank them in person.
