When a St. John's man's heart stopped during a hockey game, his friends acted — and saved his life

Anyone who's played hockey with Colin Sullivan of St. John's knows how sturdy the 42-year-old is on skates, and how difficult it is to knock him off the puck.

That's why his fellow players thought he was joking around late last month when the burly tax lawyer first took a knee, and then collapsed face-first onto the ice at Yetman's Arena.

After all, both teams were short of players during their regular Wednesday night recreational hockey game on Oct. 25, and they were all dog-tired.

But Sullivan was not fooling around. His heart had stopped — full-on cardiac arrest.

It's the type of thing that happens, outside of a hospital, about every 15 minutes in Canada, and the result is death about 90 per cent of the time, according to the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada.

But Sullivan is enjoying a second chance at life because of some quick-acting hockey players who know how to perform life-saving CPR, and the availability of a portable medical device known as an AED, or automated external defibrillator.

"I was one of the lucky people who managed to have people around who knew how to react when these situations happen," Sullivan said during an interview this week at the same rink where he nearly died.

Sullivan is married and a father to four children between the ages of four and 10. And when he's not busy with his law and tax practice, he's either coaching his children's hockey teams or playing in the 9:30 p.m. Wednesday game at Yetmen's Arena that he's been organizing for years. He also played rugby until a few years ago.

Life was great for Sullivan, and he looked forward to every chance he could get to launch his powerful wrist shot at the net during games.

There were signs of trouble, however. Doctors had previously