Indie Wrestler Nearly Dies Backstage, Another Wrestler Revives Him With CPR

Veteran independent wrestler Josh Littell, best known as Sir Samurai, faced a harrowing medical emergency just two months ago after a match at the Pinole Public Library — one that, by all odds, should have ended his life.

“We were the main event,” Littell told KCRA 3 in Sacramento. “We finished the match, and everything seemed fine, all things considered.”

But moments after the April 26 bout, Littell collapsed in the makeshift locker room. He said, “Apparently, my heart stopped, and I hit the floor. Medically speaking, I was dead. Every nurse and doctor told me the same thing: ‘You died on Saturday.’”

Fellow wrestler Alex Bell — who also happens to be a trained EMT — sprang into action. He stated, “I started chest compressions and told someone to grab an AED. The ambulance was already en route. Honestly, my first thought was, ‘This isn’t going to work.’ I’ve done CPR a lot, and it’s never worked before.”

Littell claims he was clinically dead for three to four minutes. He said, “I didn’t see a light or anything, but I felt like I was being pulled back before I woke up. The survival rate for something like this is something like 0.00001%. I shouldn’t have made it — and the fact that I came back with no brain damage, fully functioning… no one can explain it.”

Doctors still haven’t identified the cause of his cardiac arrest. As a safeguard, a defibrillator has been implanted in his chest. One month later, Littell returned to the ring — not to compete, but to formally announce his retirement from wrestling.

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