BOSTON (CBS) – Two Northeastern students with CPR training were able to save the life of a university worker who collapsed near their ultimate Frisbee practice.

Danielle Pesko and Sam Cook say it was simply reflex and there was no time to think about it.

WBZ-TV’s Ken Macleod reports

The sophomore Chemical Engineering major and junior Health Sciences major saw Jake Negrotti sprawled on parson’s field, one of the athletic venues he’s taken care of at the school for 30 years. They immediately dropped what they were doing.

Jake was having a heart attack. He wasn’t breathing and had no pulse.

The girls did tag-team CPR in the minutes before paramedics arrived.

“In my training, never had I ever thought I would ever have to use it,” said Cook.

When it was over, they went back to Frisbee club.

“It didn’t occur to me until days later that we had actually saved his life,” admitted Cook.

But, thanks to them, Jake is getting better.

He’s walking daily, and this veteran of several overseas tours with the National Guard is hopeful he’ll return to work sometime this summer.

“Every time I went to war and came back, they called me a hero. These girls are real heroes,” said Negrotti.

The girls have already received a “thank you” email from Jake’s wife.

He hopes to deliver a hug in person when he gets back to work, sometime after the 4th of July.

Both Danielle and Samantha agree that the lesson here is pretty simple – learn CPR. If it’s been awhile since your learned, take a refresher.