ST PAUL, Minn. — With thousands of people traveling through MSP every day, you're always surrounded by strangers. In the case of Jay May, that was a good thing – he didn't know it yet, but those strangers alongside him, waiting for their luggage, would be the ones to save his life.
"I'm here for a reason; don't know yet," May said. "Hopefully at some point, I'll figure it out."
Last summer, May was waiting for his luggage at baggage claim inside MSP's Terminal 1 after returning from a trip to Alaska. While there, he collapsed, not remembering a thing.
Mark Kortesma was there.
"I happen to see Jay walk over and fall," he said. "And I heard him hit his head."
Jay had gone into cardiac arrest — the second time in less than a year — after suffering another last February.
"My first episode was in a parking lot in a parking garage. There were no AED's anywhere out there," May said. "I should have never survived the first go around."
"I believe it's only 5 percent of cardiac arrests outside of the hospital do not sort of survive," he continued. "So, it's a less than a 5 percent survival rate."
Those AED's, alongside with Mark and his wife, Kirsten, and another bystander, Kyle Menza, saved May's life. All three are Minnesotans.
"Someone grabbed that AED; we used that right away," Menza said. "Then within a few minutes, the emergency personnel were here on scene and they took over."
May doesn't remember anything from this. Thursday was the first time he saw his heroes since then.
Those lifesavers were recognized by the Twin Cities chapter of the American Heart Association.
"This set of knowledge and skill can transform a nation of bystanders into a nation of lifesavers," Dr. Haitham Hussein, board of directors president for the chapter, said.
Those three were recognized with a plaque for their efforts — the real reward, though, was standing right in front of them.
"Don't want to go through it again," May said. "But I'm only here because of these folks up here, so I just wanted to say: 'Thank you.'"
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