A man who collapsed and nearly died while running the Houston Marathon in January met with the people who saved his life for the first time Sunday.
"These people gave me my life back," Rand Mintzer said.
Mintzer collapsed near mile 14 and was found unresponsive and not breathing.
He said had it not been for the kindness of others, he could have died of a heart attack.
The group met for brunch in Montrose Sunday, trading stories of their fight to save Mintzer.
"There's no words to express the gratitude and joy of seeing them and being able to something like this for them," he said.
Stephanie Baisey, a labor and delivery nurse, said she first saw Mintzer fall as a bystander, cheering on her husband, who ran the marathon.
Baisey said it took eight minutes of CPR to bring Mintzer back to life.
For a while, she said, Mintzer's prognosis seemed grim, but she kept performing CPR.
"You just hope so much in your heart that you've done everything so he will be able to come back and have a full life," Baisey said.
Rigo Contreras, a firefighter with the Atasocita Volunteer Fire Department, was running the marathon when he saw Mintzer collapse.
Contreras said he jumped into action to help Baisey and a group of nurses who were at the race.
"Right now it feels great to see Mr. Rand and it's awesome to see the work paid off and you see him," Contreras said.