Rory Bakke and his girlfriend, Sunny Saengdara, were playing pickleball at Miller Park in Eden Prairie, MN over the weekend when something went awry.

Bakke suddenly collapsed and desperately needed medical assistance.

Fortunately, Saengdara was there to help. She's a nurse, so Bakke was in good hands under the circumstances.

"I just kind of sprang into nurse Sunny, because I had to," Saengdara told WCCO-TV in a story published on Monday. "I had no other choice."

Saengdara checked Bakke for a pulse, but didn't feel one, so she immediately began CPR and ultimately used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to shock his heart, which was in cardiac arrest.

"Trying to hold it together and trying to almost separate the fact that this is my boyfriend that it's happening to," she explained. "It's still quite surreal to me."

Bakke survived courtesy of his partner's life-saving efforts - especially using an AED.

"Rory would not be alive if it wasn't for that," insisted Saengdara.

The AED was actually installed near the pickleball courts just 12 days before the incident after being requested by Eden Prairie Parks and Recreation in the spring.

According to Paul Mendoza, whose company, Advanced First Aid Inc., installed the AED used on Bakke, this is the fourth person his devices have saved on pickleball courts just this year.

"Having an AED shock right away is a gamechanger," emphasized Mendoza. "That's the treatment, the only treatment that can save someone's life."

"It doesn't seem like a coincidence," said Saengdara. "It seems like everything was meant to happen the way it was supposed to."

According to Saengdara, doctors suspect Bakke suffers from arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy, a rare genetic heart rhythm disorder that can be fatal if left untreated.

"Everyone should know CPR," said Saengdara. "Like watch a video or take a class, and know where the AED is."