Woman thanks her life-saving heroes

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A woman is now grateful for every second of life, after she collapsed in an east Houston restaurant last year. Firefighters from Station 45 off Maxey near the East Freeway rushed to the scene to help her.

On Tuesday, Mary Swintson finally got her chance to say thank you.

"I walked up the counter and the lady said, 'What kind of bread do you want?' and I said, 'Flat Bread' and that's it," said Swintson. "That's all I remember."

Customers and staff called 911 and firefighters came to the rescue, using CPR and a defibrillator to save her life.

"We used the defibrillator three times," said Houston firefighter Jeremy Jones. "She got pulses back."

Doctors aren't sure exactly what happened but believe her pacemaker failed. Now, a year later, she's here to say thank you.

"Life is so precious and in an instant, it can change," she said. "Your whole world can change. It's important to say thank you along the way."