It was just like every other game of fall pickup: Waiting for the kids to finish playing, taking the court with friends, rushing back and forth — but this time Dwayne Harrison’s heart stopped beating.

The 23-year-old George Brown Huskies veteran was feeling fine when he met his friends and a teammate at Lawrence Heights Community Centre last August. It had been a good summer, full of activity for the young up-and-coming athlete.

In the middle of the game, his 6-foot-6 frame fell to the court.

Ted Rennie, a custodian working there at the time, rushed to Harrison’s side and saved his life that evening, thanks to training that taught him CPR and use of the automated external defibrillator, a life-saving device installed in 1,400 locations around the city.

After the near-death of one of his players, Huskies coach Jonathan Smith and Toronto EMS decided to host a training session for the whole team. Harrison’s teammates gathered Thursday — a room full of towering hoops players bent over pink plastic CPR dummies — and learned the moves that saved their teammate’s life.

D.J. James, a 20-year-old member of the team, was with Harrison the night his heart stopped beating.

“At first we thought he just fell down. We didn’t know what was happening,” said James. He and his friends scrambled, calling for help and phoning 911.

“During that time, I knew about CPR . . . (but) when you see it actually happen, you just kind of freeze up.

“I feel like I can do it now more confidently and like I wouldn’t just stand there like the last time,” he said after the training session.

Harrison recovered from the cardiac arrest and says doctors haven’t been able to determine why it happened. He aced all his tests (he passed the stress test twice, he says proudly). They have told him it was an “anomaly.”

While he’s recovering, Harrison is working as the assistant coach for the Huskies. He’s back on the court in his free time, playing pickup games and competing in intramural tournaments until he can rejoin his team.

Smith, who has been coaching at George Brown for two years, hopes the training will enable the players to help in future situations.

“They always say through the first three or four seconds, you can save someone’s life. So hopefully now, down the road, this training will help someone,” he said.

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He sold it to his players simply:

“Bottom line is that someone who knew this training saved your teammate.”