The Richesin family, paramedics and doctors all say the same thing: “It’s a miracle.”

When Napa Valley College golfer Andrew Richesin, 27, lay down on the evening of March 29 to relax with his dog Jessie, it seemed a quiet end to a day that included hours in the sun at a college golf tournament.

Jessie, it turned out, made sure her owner was around to see another day.

It was about 8 p.m. when Richesin turned on the television and lay down the floor. Several hours later Richesin’s girlfriend Vanna Kalawa returned from work. Not seeing anything too unusual, she laid a blanket atop him and went to sleep by his side.

While they were sleeping, Richesin suffered a heart attack. At about 3 a.m., Jessie — a 2-year-old boxer-pit bull mix — yelped in Kalawa’s ear to alert her that something was wrong.

Kalawa found Richesin had no pulse. She performed CPR and called 911. When paramedics arrived Richesin had no heartbeat, and did not respond to a shock. As the ambulance pulled into the parking lot of Queen of the Valley Regional Medical Center, his heart slowly began to beat again.

For the next few days Richesin was in a coma, on life support and dialysis machines. Wednesday night he awoke from the coma, and his condition is slowly improving.

Kalawa credits Jessie, a dog the couple saved from being euthanized, for essentially saving her boyfriend’s life.

Richesin’s father, Charles, said doctors could not figure out his son’s condition, and say they’ve never seen anything like it. After an exam, doctors noticed Richesin had an enlarged heart. A brain scan that doctors expected to answer their questions didn’t help.

“The doctor said ‘I don’t know what is happening, but this is a perfect brain,’” Charles Richesin said.

When Andrew Richesin awoke he recognized his father and a couple minutes later asked for money to buy some juice. Despite the get well card signed by all his teammates and other photos that should have reminded him, he didn’t remember he was on a golf team.

Andrew Richesin’s brain is not fully functioning, and as time goes by several other organs are slowly functioning at a higher level, his father said.

He is expected to improve, and for this Kalawa is ever grateful.

“I’m the first one who thought he was gone, but now I see there is hope and I’ve never stopped praying,” Kalawa said.

It is too soon to say whether Richesin will be able to play golf again. Although he is 27, Richesin is a freshman at Napa Valley College, and this was his first year on the college team. He is one of the college’s top six golfers and has a personal and family history with the sport: As a junior player, Richesin won 20 tournaments. His father and grandfather were also golf players.

NVC golf coach Jim Wiechers said Richesin’s heart attack has affected the team. Wiechers said many of the other team members are “in state of shock and disbelief.”

“Because he was older than the rest of the guys they kind of looked at him as a father figure; he was calming to the team,” Wiechers said.

Early Thursday morning Andrew Richesin tried to walk out of the hospital, carrying all his get well cards and photos. The valiant effort was rebuffed. He is still at the hospital and his father said he is expected to move out of intensive care soon.