He was teaching a CPR class. Then he had a heart attack.

A British man gave his students in a CPR class a little hands-on experience in a scary way, as he suffered a heart attack in the middle of a lesson, according to local media outlets.

David Knowles, 77, had a cardiac episode four months ago as he was teaching people in an Exeter, England, church about CPR, according to Inside Edition. As he fell to the ground, he took his own pulse and then assured the students, who were in their first day of the class, that he wasn’t faking anything.

“The more senior members of the group had asked for a demonstration ... she thought I was role playing, but I told her it was real and that I was going to lose consciousness,” Knowles told the BBC.

Even as he underwent the intense hard attack, Knowles kept giving instructions to his students, including a former nurse taking the class as a refresher, according to the Telegraph.

Eventually, Knowles did pass out, but he flashed in and out of consciousness several times as first his students and later paramedics attempted to resuscitate him.

“I was there while the paramedics were resuscitating David,” Knowles’ wife, Nova, told the Telegraph. “He was in and out of consciousness and I was worried he would be afraid, but he was very calm and telling them exactly what was wrong. He was so calm and clear because he was directing us.”

However, Knowles has no recollection of his actions.

“The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital, two and a half weeks later,” he told the BBC.

According to multiple media outlets, Knowles’ doctors feared he would suffer brain damage or organ failure because of the severity of the heart attack. He was placed in a medically-induced coma, and remained in the hospital for five weeks, according to the BBC.

Still, medical officials told Knowles he would have likely died without the actions of his students, and he has made an impressive recovery, returning home and walking unaided, according to Inside Edition.

“I feel a lot better,” he said.

This story was originally published July 20, 2017 at 7:06 PM with the headline "He was teaching a CPR class. Then he had a heart attack.."