GRAND FORKS (AP) - A little more than a month after suffering a heart attack at a softball complex here, Kevin Austin threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

"People say it was a miracle, and I believe it," Austin, 57, said after he threw out the first pitch Tuesday at his Kelly's Bar master's softball game.

Austin collapsed May 15, at the Ulland Park Softball Complex, between diamond Nos. 1 and 8 - which happened to be the diamonds where teams from Altru Hospital and the Grand Forks Fire Department just had finished playing.

As Austin went to his knees, an onlooker screamed. Altru nurse Ben Dorman, firefighter Matt Hageman and Jeremy Aker came to his rescue.

"I saw (Austin) tip over," Dorman said. "I ran over there and started to do CPR."

Austin said the efforts of Dorman, Hageman and Aker kept him alive long enough for emergency services to arrive.

Kelly's Bar master's and the Sertoma Club started a special account called FURST BASE (short for First Ulland Response Survival Technology - Better Assisting Sports Emergencies) at Community Bank of Red River Valley. Organizers hope to raise $4,000 to purchase two portable defibrillators for Ulland Park.

"The big thing to save him was electrical shock, which wasn't present," Dorman said. "We had his shirt off and had everything ready for when the ambulance came. Once (the medics) shocked him, he came back."

Before the Kelly's Bar game, Austin shook hands with the three men who saved his life. Also at the pre-game ceremony, Altru Hospital gave an $800 check to the FURST BASE fund.

Austin also was given a jersey with his No. 13 on the back and a red heart on the front.

On May 15, Austin's team played on diamond No. 4, near South Middle School. Instead of parking close to the field, Austin parked in a farther lot.

"That was the smartest walk he could have made," teammate Del Hager said. "It just happened that firefighters were on one diamond, and doctors on the other."

Austin said he felt what he thought was heartburn during the first game of the team's doubleheader. As the second game went on, the heartburn got worse.

"As I walked towards the concession stands, I started feeling dizzy," Austin said. "Then, I felt like I needed to kneel down and catch my breath. That's the last thing I remembered for about a week."

Hageman said: "We just finished both our games. I saw him go down. There was no response. He was breathless and lifeless."

Not only did he collapse between firefighters and doctors, Austin was told the ambulance arrived in about three minutes because it already was on the south end of town filling up with gas.

The attack came out of nowhere for Austin, who said he had never had heart trouble in the past.

"There's none of it in my family; I don't have any problems with my cholesterol; I don't have any weight problems," Austin said. "It's just one of those deals.

"You look at everything that was going on, and I was very lucky."