Members of Stamford's Fire Department and Emergency Medical Service received honors Thursday for saving a man who went into cardiac arrest during a martial arts class.

Lance Adams, a firefighter and an Army veteran, was taking a kickboxing class at Tiger Schulmann's in December when fellow student Mehran Zamani collapsed.

Adams found Zamani had no pulse, so he called 911 and began performing CPR. Within three minutes, acting Lt. Michael Dragonnetti arrived with firefighters Fabio Basile, Brandan O'Reilly and Ryan Southard. They continued CPR until EMS medics used a defibrillator to revive Zamani.

"I could have been dead if he wasn't there," Zamani says of Adams. "My 6-year-old twins, my wife, their future -- everything would have ended right there."

Adams says he'll take more kickboxing classes with Zamani once he recovers.

"Being called a hero multiple times in the military, it's different from different perspectives," the veteran says. "But personally knowing Mehran, it's special."

Zamani says he hopes his story will encourage people to learn to perform CPR.