Port Authority Police Officers Save Elderly Man While On Vacation In Ireland, PBA Says

KENMARE, Ireland (CBSNewYork) -- Two Port Authority police officers will be returning home from a European vacation as heroes after saving an elderly man who collapsed in a pub in Ireland Wednesday.

According to the Port Authority Police Benevolent Association, officers Matthew Thomas and Matthew Gilhooley were sitting at PF McCarthy's Pub in Kenmare, County Kerry, when they saw a 71-year-old man collapse from his chair.

The officers ran to man's aid and determined he was in cardiac arrest, according to the Port Authority PBA.

Thomas and Gilhooley began CPR and administered two shocks with a defibrillator on the elderly man. After roughly 15 minutes the man regained a pulse and was able to breathe on his own, according to the Port Authority PBA.

Both officers stayed with the man until local authorities arrived at the pub and took him to Cork University Hospital for additional treatment.

According to the Port Authority PBA, officers Thomas and Gilhooley have each been members of the PAPD for four years and are both certified first responders trained in CPR and the use of a defibrillator.