AUSTIN (KXAN) — Just two months after suffering a severe cardiac arrest, local realtor Steve Dedear is on the road to recovery.

In December, the 60-year-old collapsed at a company Christmas party at Paleface Ranch.

“I was having a massive heart attack and fortunately for me, there were a few people around that knew how to do CPR,” Dedear said.

While most of the people at the party stood in shock, not sure what to do, his coworker Keith Milkiewicz sprang into action.

“His lips were turning purple and I noticed that he had a lot of the deep breaths that were synonymous with cardiac arrest,” Milkiewic said. “I knew at that point in time, we had to step in and do something.”

He proceeded to perform live-saving CPR on Dedear for nearly 15 minutes straight, until EMS personnel arrived on scene.

Dedear was transported to the Dell Seton Medical Center, where doctors placed him in a medically-induced coma.

“People call you hero or whatnot, but I was in the right place at the right time,” Milkiewic said. “I just happened to know what to do.”

After seven days in a coma, Dedear woke up with three stints in his heart.

“I’m blessed by God that Keith was put there to save my life,” he said.

Now, Dedear is nearly back to normal with his full cognitive and physical ability.

Recently, he and some of his co-workers at Coldwell Banker Realty in Lakeway, became CPR certified.

“The fact that we pulled this together and now, everybody is getting certified, it saves lives,” Milkiewic said.

This was done through a course offered by VIK Complete Care — a full service emergency room in both Lakeway and Westlake — that offers CPR classes in conjunction with Republic EMS.

CPR Classes are taught by American Heart Association instructors and include CPR & AED use as well as choking in infants, children and adults.

Upon completion, participants receive an AHA ‘Heartsaver’ certification

“You never know where you’re going to be when someone suffers a cardiac arrest,” VIK Complete Care community liaison Andrea Connell said. “You can save a life if you have the knowledge and the confidence to do it.”

With a second chance in life, Dedear is determined to learn from this lesson.

“I want to be able to pay it forward and I want to be in a position to save somebody else’s life if the opportunity presents,” he concluded.

Another VIK Complete Care CPR class will take place on Tuesday at Coldwell Banker Realty’s Lakeway location.