KNOXVILLE (WATE) – A Knoxville family is holding on to faith and hope as the community rallies around them saying prayers for their son. The Buckners’ five-year-old son had a heart attack Friday morning and is at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital having surgery, getting a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted to help his heart.

Stone Buckner is a little boy with a love of tee-ball and fishing, fighting for his life for the second time. His parents David and NIkki Buckner called him their miracle child during a conversation over Facetime.

“I was able to witness him… laying lifeless and I saw God work that out,” said David Buckner, tears welling up in his eyes.

When Stone was born, he lost oxygen, but was treated and became healthy.

“We’ve always known that he was very strong willed and had a fighting spirit and it’s really shining through right now,” said David Buckner.

Stone is now fighting again, this time after suffering a heart attack. David Buckner saw his son collapse Friday morning. He wasn’t breathing.

“My natural reaction [was] I laid him down and began to do CPR and I’m not trained in CPR,” said David Buckner. “It wasn’t me. It was God that worked through me.”

David Buckner did CPR for 15 minutes. Stone was taken to Children’s Hospital and then Vanderbilt Medical Center where family discovered Stone had a rare issue for a child.

“It’s the electrical part of his heart that doesn’t fire or trigger when his heart rate is lower,” said Nikki Buckner.

Stone was getting a pacemaker and defibrillator on Monday, which he’ll likely have the rest of his life.

“He’s tough and he’s strong and God is in control and you know we are faced with different paths and different plans and we just got a little new path,” said David Buckner.

The Buckners have received hundreds of messages offering prayers. A “Stone Strong” Facebook page now has more than 6,000 members. The family says they believe in the power of prayer. They say they hope other parents hug their kids a little tighter and remember each moment counts because life can change any moment. They also encourage other parents to learn CPR.

Friends and family of the Buckners have started a GoFundMe page to help the family with medical expenses.More:Donate to #StoneStrong