Deputy Jeremiah Prescott didn’t see the collision that led to his helping save the life of a young Florida man, but the quick work of the deputy and retired Los Angeles firefighter Gary Clark, a resident of Capistrano Beach, gave the young man a second chance at life. Clark was traveling on El Camino Real behind two men on motorcycles. As they approached the Rite Aid Pharmacy, Clark was approximately a block behind the men when one hit a vehicle that was turning left. “The motorcyclist flew over the car and disappeared,” Clark recalled. Clark stopped to render aid. “He was on his back,” Clark said. “One guy looked in his helmet and said, ‘He’s dead.’” Deputy Prescott and his partner were parked in an unmarked vehicle a short distance away on a surveillance. “I heard a loud noise,” Prescott said. “It sounded to me like a pallet had snapped down to the ground from a semi-truck. I thought maybe the sound had come from the Rite Aid. I didn’t think anything of it until I saw a bunch of people running to the location.” Clark, an experienced EMT, assessed the man. He was not breathing and had no pulse. Mr. Clark and a bystander removed the man’s helmet. Soon, Prescott arrived, and he, too, could not find a pulse. The two men then began CPR. “Being old-school, my feelings are that if you breathe into someone mouth-to-mouth, you’re going to get an exchange of air and fill the lungs, rather than the new method, which just calls for chest compressions,” Clark said. A 15-year veteran of the force, Prescott had taken a number of CPR courses and performed the emergency procedure in the field. “I’ve just never had it work,” Prescott said. “We did three sets of chest compressions and I’ll be damned if he didn’t just gasp for air. It caught me off-guard, to be honest with you.” Clark said he worked to maintain a clean airway for the paramedics before they arrived. “I looked around and asked ‘Who did chest compressions,’” Clark said. “Prescott responded, ‘I did.’ And I told him, ‘We just saved this man’s life.’” Prescott and Clark were both honored for their actions. Deputy Prescott received the Orange County Sheriff’s Department’s Medal of Lifesaving and Mr. Clark received a certificate of recognition for his efforts as well. Deputy Prescott later said, “I don’t think my actions were heroic or courageous in any way. I did something I’ve done several times before and that other deputies have done countless times over the years.” Mr. Clark checked on the accident victim days after the accident and also spoke with paramedics who’d transported him to Mission Hospital. Mr. Clark learned the victim had gone into arrest on the way to the hospital, but was again revived. When Mr. Clark visited the victim at the hospital, he “looked like a mummy” after breaking “nearly every bone in his body.” According to his nurse, the victim also suffered a dissected aorta, where blood flows between the layers of the aorta, which is typically fatal, Clark said.