NewsCovering Colorado

Actions

'It's a very surreal feeling': Colorado Springs man meets Top Golf employee who saved his life

Top Golf Resuce
Posted at 10:09 PM, Aug 11, 2022
and last updated 2022-08-12 00:21:21-04

COLORADO SPRINGS — It was supposed to be a normal Saturday night back in December for Brandon Bartlett. He was spending an evening out at Top Golf in Colorado Springs with friends and his fiancé, but in between swings, things took a turn.

"I was just, you know, talking to my friends and then I just stopped talking. He said I fell into my buddy. That's when I flat-lined," Bartlett said.

He had gone into cardiac arrest and said the next thing he remembered was waking up at the hospital with nurses and family around him.

"People were holding my hands, looking at me into my eyes, checking on me," he said. "Then it was just kind of in and out from there until the next morning when I woke up at the hospital and I finally got an explanation of what just happened to me."

Dustin Hart, the Colorado Springs Top Golf hospitality manager, was one of the first people to help Bartlett when everything happened that night.

"There was a call that came over the radio that we needed a manager. It was a frantic radio call. I saw Brandon, who was on the floor and I immediately tried to get a pulse on him," he said.

Hart and another employee made the quick decision to start CPR and administered one shock from the AED to Bartlett. He said the fire department came about eight minutes later and took over. Bartlett eventually woke up after the fire department administered compressions and was taken to a nearby hospital.

"My chances were less than 5% of surviving a widow-maker artery heart attack," he said.

Doctors told him he had a 100% blood clot in his left anterior descending artery.

"It definitely puts a different perspective on life when something like that happens to you. I can't take anything for granted," he said.

Brandon Bartlett recovering
Brandon Bartlett and his sister-in-law recovering at the hospital after he suffered a heart attack at a Top Golf in Colorado Springs.

Now, standing in the same place where the incident happened, eight months later, Bartlett said he was given a second chance at life. He credits Hart and the other employees for saving his life. The two reunited for the first time on Thursday since that day back in December.

"It's a very surreal feeling to realize that the person you're standing next to actually saved my life," he said.

The Colorado Springs Fire Department honored Hart, Kitty Roberts, and Roman Davis with the Citizen Lifesaving Award at the beginning
of August. In a letter to the employees, Fire Chief Randy Royal said their "quick recognition" of the emergency "made the difference in saving his life." Roberts said she is now pursuing a career as a firefighter because of the incident.

Three employees honored with Citizen Lifesaving Award
Roman Davis, Kitty Roberts, and Dustin Hart were honored with the Citizen Lifesaving Award by the Colorado Springs Fire Department after their quick response to the emergency, according to Fire Chief Randy Royal.
Three employees honored with Citizen Lifesaving Award
Dustin Hart, Kitty Roberts, and Roman Davis each received a Citizen Lifesaving Award from Colorado Springs Fire Chief Randy Royal on August 1.

Bartlett said, now, that he just wants to finish his golf game.

"I'll definitely be bringing the wife back and you know, have a full night of golfing. I probably ended my game a little early so I definitely need to come out and finish my game up," he said.
_____

Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.