Amy Arroyo was out with her husband, Sgt. Juan Arroyo, apartment hunting the day after their sixth wedding anniversary when he collapsed. He was talking to the leasing agent and fell to the ground. Amy immediately began performing CPR but was too panicked and could not calm herself down. “I’m yelling at him ‘Come on soldier you can’t die on me you have to live, you have a family to live for,'” she said. Bystanders and the apartment complex staff sprang into action – one person called 911, another ran to the pool area and frantically asked if anyone knew CPR.
And that’s when Sgt. Michael Adams, an off-duty soldier, appeared. He ran out of the pool, soaking wet, and sprang into action. Adams knew that Amy was too hysterical to effectively perform CPR so he took over compressions while she gave Juan breaths.
Juan was taken to a hospital where was put on life support for four days until he was strong enough to breathe on his own. His family knew that he suffered from congestive heart failure but had no idea he was this sick.
Amy and Juan are so incredibly grateful to Sgt. Adams for everything he did. He is up for two awards and Sgt. Arroyo is writing to his command on the behalf of Sgt. Adams for saving his life.
