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BY SUE SCHUMANN WARNER –
Manny Martinez might have simply been in the right place at the right time. Or, it might have been a divine appointment. There’s no doubt in Hector Chacon’s mind that it was the latter.
Martinez, a 11-year territorial headquarters employee in the Property Department, was working at the loading dock at THQ when Hector ran to him with his 2-year-old son, Joshua, who was having seizures.
“He had been sick with a high fever, and suddenly stopped breathing and turned blue,” said Chacon, mail services clerk, who works in the nearby mail room.
After finding the boy had no pulse, Martinez called 911 and then started applying CPR. “I gave short breaths,” he said, “and there was no response. So, I gave a larger one and he started to respond.”
Thoughts were madly racing through Manny’s head at the time. “While it was happening, I was scared–I was sweating. I was thinking that two is too early to die–that Joshua had a future. I was also thinking of my own boy.”
Hector admits he was thinking the worst. “But the paramedics came and took Joshua to the hospital. He is on the mend and the doctor said the prognosis is good,” he reports.
Martinez, a part of The Salvation Army emergency response team, credits the Army with his ability to respond. “I learned lifesaving techniques from the Army after someone at THQ saved my life when I had passed out. They gave me the privilege of learning CPR, and I gave that benefit to the boy. The Man Upstairs is the only one who could plan this.”
This is the second time Martinez has saved a life at THQ. Six years ago he performed a Heimlich maneuver on Gregorio Cuevas, Sr., who began choking during lunch.
