Tom Murphy played a tennis game that almost ended in sudden death — his own — until his heart was restarted by a defibrillator and a fast-moving crew at Summit Chase Country Club.

[post a comment below]

Vino Wong/AJC (ENLARGE)

Adrienne Britt-Rousseau (left) and Craig Conner (right) of Summit Chase Country Club recently saved the life of 78-year-old member Tom Murphy. 'We can't thank Summit Chase enough for having that defibrillator,' said Murphy's wife, Adi. Conner holds the club's defribillator that was used to aid Murphy.

RELATED: Gwinnett news Georgia and metro news

The 78-year-old credits the rapid medical attention for saving his life.

"I feel pretty darn blessed," said Murphy. "I have a guardian angel."

Murphy visited the Snellville country club recently to be reunited with some of the staff who helped to revive him. As he gazed at the tennis courts, the hot sun beamed down on the shoulders of club members returning serves near the spot where Murphy fell to the ground.

On a prior Saturday, the heart patient was playing tennis with friends as he did every week his doctors allowed him to, when suddenly he lost consciousness.

"I got a terrible sensation of falling backwards and I couldn't stop myself," he said. "That is all I remember."

Adrienne Britt-Rousseau, the controller at the country club, was in the office when the distress call came. She had come to the club on a Saturday to finish a pile of paperwork.

"Someone came running up screaming about CPR and the defibrillator," Britt-Rousseau, 35, said. "I got up and ran."

The controller rushed to the scene so she could start cardiopulmonary resuscitation. She told her staff to grab the defibrillator in her office and call 911.

Britt-Rousseau was surprised when she saw that the man in distress was Murphy, a founding member of the club she had known since she was 8 years old. His face was purple.

"There was no pulse," she said. "I immediately began doing CPR."

Britt-Rousseau knew that Murphy had suffered a heart attack back in October after he returned home from playing tennis. An emergency room crew had revived him that time.

"I thought no way he is coming back twice," she said. She got "really scared," but adrenaline kept her going.

As onlookers joined the rescue effort, a golf course superintendent powered up the defibrillator.

The defibrillator, which cost the club about $3,000, was easy to handle, said Craig Conner, 42. "I'm electronically impaired," Conner said. "You just read the prompts and it tells you what to do."

The rescuers stood back as Conner shocked Murphy's heart. It began to beat again. The machine tracked Murphy's heart rate. Britt-Rousseau continued doing CPR and monitoring Murphy's breathing until paramedics arrived.

"When he was in their care, I fell apart ... I cried like a baby," Britt-Rousseau said.

Meanwhile, a receptionist contacted Murphy's wife, Adi Murphy of Lilburn. She met her husband at Emory Eastside Medical Center. After Murphy's vital signs were stable, he was transported to St. Joseph's Hospital in Atlanta.

Murphy said his doctors were "thrilled" that Summit Chase had a defribillator. They called the club to get some data from the machine to help in Murphy's treatment. Murphy soon learned one of the stents that had been placed in his heart

had collapsed.

"His artery was 99 percent closed," said Adi Murphy, 78. "It was one of those freaky things. ... We can't thank Summit Chase enough for having that defibrillator."

Britt-Rousseau and Conner visited Murphy in the hospital before he was released after a short stay. The staff members were relieved that Murphy was doing so well.

"It was amazing," Britt-Rousseau said.