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Baseball Player Saved After Collapsing On Newton Field

NEWTON (CBS) - Russ Stephens is counting his blessings after his son, Eric Stephens, was brought back to life after collapsing during a Boston Men's Baseball League game in Newton on Thursday night. "They brought him back. The doctor in the emergency room said 'you had died earlier tonight and you were revived,'" Russ Stephens said.

Fortunately, Eric was surrounded by some amazing people and teammates on both sides who rushed to his aid like Brendan Pounds. "I never seen anything happen like this in my life," said Pounds. "All of a sudden he stopped breathing we checked his pulse and nobody could feel it."

That's when Victoria Cedano, who's CPR Certified, came running from bleachers. "When I got to him he was purple not breathing. I jumped right on top of him and started to administer CPR. Breathing into his mouth," Cedano said.

Eric Stephens
Eric Stephens (WBZ-TV)

Seconds later Newton Police officer and first responders took over and used the defibrillator to revive him. "As I was talking to him the officers arrived and put the defibrillator on him and gave him a few shots and he was up and breathing," Cedano said.

WBZ-TV's Katie Brace Reports

He was transported to MGH where he was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy. "A thickening of his heart muscle which restricts the blood flow which leads to sudden death," Stephens said.

The family thanks everyone who saved his son life. "Just a series of responses that led to Eric being here today, beginning with the CPR treatment, the first responders, the Newton Police, fire department, EMTs, it's just incredible. If anyone of those things didn't happen it would've been tragic," Stephens said.

Eric is now recovering at MGH.

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