Gerringong Breakers player Paul Gaffney, 43, had been experienceing chest pain and collapsed on the field in cardiac arrest next to the Police Citizens Youth Club, but does not remember his near death experience.

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It was 17-year-old PCYC volunteer Nate West who essentially brought him back with a defibrillator after no pulse was found.

"We were winning 3-1 so I got them to take me off," Mr Gaffney said.

"I was sitting over there in the sheds and that's when it started, I was halucinating on the floor ... I told my mate 'I don't feel well' and that's where I dropped and that's all I remember.

"It's unreal to have someone there that knows what he's doing, I'm really grateful Nate was there."

The humble teenager, however, remembers the incident on Saturday March 6 well and attributed his life-saving antics to just putting his skills into practice.

"I was sitting in the front office [with Brandi Atkinson] having my lunch after some training, we both heard the alarm for the defib box go off and jumped up like a snake out of grass," Nate said

"His team mates were already performing CPR at the time. I checked for a pulse and couldn't find one so I cut his shirt off and put defib pads on him."

Friday the pair reunited on the grounds where it happened, embracing in hugs and smiles.

"I'm just glad he's fit and well and still able to play soccer," Nate said.

While Mr Gaffney said it's "unreal" someone so young has the skills to save lives, as he admitted he'd have "no idea" of what to do.

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Chief Inspector Paul Allman of the Youth Command said the pair meeting was a "beautiful moment", while Nate's actions prove any young person could make a difference in the world.

"They can be anyone, they can achieve anything," he said. "With the right support and in the right location we can help them develop their skills, their life skills, their resilience, we can train them and provide them education around a number of things."

Nate has been part of the PCYC family since 2019 and undertaken a number of courses including specific first aid and life saving qualifications.

"We have a lot of things happening in the Illawarra with mental health around children and we just want to tell the community to bring your kids down, bring them into the club," Cheif Insp Allman said. "We can look after them, we can develop them, we can provide them with different skillsets like what Nate's achieved here."

To honour the life saved, the Michael Hughes Foundation - who provide vital first aid training - presented the North Wollongong club with a new defibrillator, which the club will pay it forward to a PCYC in Queanbeyan.

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