What’s worse than having to sit through the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds playing their particular brand of baseball…how about nearly dying.

That’s exactly what happened to Charles Trimble, a Reds fan from Erie County who made the trip with his wife and grandson to see his Reds play the hapless Pirates.  Trimble, in an effort to score better seats, bought some scalped club level tickets.

In hindsight, the move saved his life.

During the game, which no doubt was a real barnburner (note sarcasm), Trimble’s heart stopped…which is not good.

The Pirates staff immediately ran for the automatic defibrillator, a life-saving medical device used to shock a dying heart back to life.  The staff is trained to use the device in just such an emergency.

But that’s not all…remember Trimble upgrading his seats?  Seems there was a person seated near him who may know a thing or two about saving lives.  As luck would have it, Dr. Christopher Post, a trauma surgeon from Allegheny General Hospital was sitting near Trimble, and jumped to action to save the man’s life.  He, an EMT and nurse in the stands all worked to stabilize Trimble.

Talk about fate smiling on your ass.

According to doctors, the chances of survival for someone whose heart stops outside a hospital setting is about 10%…or roughly equal to the Pirates chance of making the playoffs every year.

Trimble is expected to make a full recovery…the only downside is he’s now a Pirates fan.  [The Pittsburgh Channel]