SOUTHWEST RANCHES, FLA. (WSVN) - A South Florida high school senior proved to be a class act when someone close to him was in danger.
Juan Carlos, who had recently took CPR training classes at Archbishop McCarthy High School, put his new skills to good use when he least expected.
7News cameras on Wednesday captured Juan hugging his best friend, Graesen.
“Love you, man,” said Juan.
“Love you, too,” said Graesen.
One day, Juan, known as JC among friends, saved the life of Graesen father.
“I was hanging out with my friends, and all of a sudden, my friend’s mom started screaming out, ‘Someone call 911,'” said Juan.
“We all run over to her bedroom, and I see my dad lying on the floor and unconscious. I froze, and so did my mom. We didn’t know what to do,” said Graesen.
Graesen’s dad was in cardiac arrest.
It was at that moment that Juan sprang into action.
“I turned him over, quickly assessed he was unconscious. He wasn’t responding to anything I was saying, checked his pulse, checked for his breathing,” said Juan. “I couldn’t find either of those, so I immediately started CPR.”
Juan knew to start CPR due to a class he recently started taking at his high school. He showed 7News his CPR skills up close.
“Sir, can you hear me?” said Juan to a CPR mannequin. “Checking for a pulse, no pulse. Chest rise, no chest rise. Beginning CPR.”
“CPR and patient assessment, anatomy and physiology, dealing with cardiac patients, it gives the students an idea what emergency medicine is like,” said CPR instructor Mike Sica.
Juan was three weeks into the class when he gave Graesen’s dad CPR.
“I was just thinking about saving this man’s life,” said Menendez.
“That’s the goal, is to learn in a classroom, in a lecture room, and be able to apply it in the field, because that’s where they going to be working,” said Sica, “and that’s where you’re going to be helping people and saving lives.”
“Even the doctors were saying, if JC wasn’t there, my father would not be here,” said Graesen.
Pethtel father is recovering in the hospital.
“He’s woken up, he’s doing a lot better, he’s breathing on his own,” said Juan.
“I have [JC] to thank, I owe him my life. We all owe him our lives, my whole family,” said Graesen.
Juan has a message for people who don’t know how to use CPR.
“I 1,000% think that everyone should learn CPR, because unfortunately, stuff like this happens. Cardiac arrest is something that just happens, and knowing the skill is literally lifesaving,” he said.
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