A Broomfield resident who survived a severe heart attack was reunited with the first responders who saved his life.

Brian Goracke describes the day of his heart attack as similar to any other day. Aside from a lingering pain that felt similar to acid reflux, there was no warning before the day took a turn.

"I remember picking up the kids from school, and taking my oldest to hockey practice that night, my girlfriend was coming down and came a little bit early," he said. "I was getting ready to throw burgers on the grill and just hit the floor."

Goracke had what his doctors referred to as a widow-maker heart attack, a cardiac event known for being extremely deadly. A widow-maker occurs when there is a full blockage in the heart's biggest artery.

"I hit the floor and that was it -- it was just black until I woke up in the hospital," he said. "I had to hear the story of what happened from my girlfriend because I had no memory of what happened."

Goracke said his girlfriend, Brittany Gilmore, was instrumental in his survival. She performed compressions on him until first responders arrived. But she explained that she wouldn't have known there was something wrong without the help of her 9-year-old son.

"I was upstairs unpacking when my son Kadin came up the stairs and said to me, 'mom, Brian is on the floor,'" she said. "It took me a hot second to understand ... but my son looked at me and looked so worried, and it dawned on me."

Gilmore raced downstairs and found Goracke lying unresponsive on the floor. She started compressions, and continued until first responders arrived to take over. She said that without Kadin coming upstairs to get her, the day would have gone very differently.

"We've talked a lot about what to do in an emergency, because being a single mom, one of my biggest fears is that something would happen to me and my kids would be stuck and no one would know," she said. "He knows how to use my phone and call 911 or use a phone to call me. He knows he has to tell somebody if something goes wrong."

Gilmore and Kadin received awards for their work to save Goracke earlier this month, at the same event where he was reunited with the first responders who helped him.

"I got to meet a lot of the medics that were there and the first responders," Goracke said. "I don't remember their faces at all but it was good to shake their hands and thank them as much as possible."

EMS Chief Randy Delaney stressed the importance of quick action, and that the work of Kadin and his mom saved Goracke's life.

"Not only did they contact 911, but they knew the steps to start CPR, which was instrumental in his survival," Delaney said. "Without that, survival statistics are in the single digits, compared to upwards of 30% chance of survival with those early interventions."

Thanks to their quick interventions and the work of first responders, Goracke survived, and said he's now trying to live his life a little differently.

"I just try to enjoy life more, and not stress the little things," he said. "I'm still stressed out but I handle it differently, and I try not to dwell on things as much."

"Life is short, and you never know when it's going to end. Cherish the little things you have, because the little things in life are the most important."

North Metro Fire offers free CPR and bleeding control classes for the community, with the next round of classes scheduled for March 1. Go to northmetrofire.org/Activities to register.