A hip-hop legend was almost lost last week if it weren’t for some well-trained “angels” that came to his rescue.
According to a press release issued by the Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters, legendary rapper Kurtis Blow, whose real name is Kurtis Walker, suffered cardiac arrest Oct. 29 near Topanga Mall in California.
The health emergency occurred as Walker and his adult son argued. LAPD Officers Peter Parra, Felix Rodriguez, Chris Vege and Calvin Hill arrived to respond to a call about a robbery, later deemed false. When they approached the quarreling duo, Vege said Walker collapsed around 9 p.m. Then, he and his partner Hill sprung into action.
A heart attack resulting from an argument isn’t that uncommon. In fact, a recent study found that a heart attack was 8.5 times more likely to happen two hours after an intense bout of anger than after an average two hour period. Researchers at the University of Sydney defined intense anger as a five or higher on a seven-point scale. Respondents in the study who described their angry episode as a five or higher agreed that they felt, “furious,” “enraged” or “out of control” about two hours before their heart attack. Their fists may have been clenched, they may have been throwing objects and they may have been hurting themselves or others. As for what they were enraged about, the researchers noted that most participants (42 percent) said their anger stemmed from an argument, most commonly with a family member.
In Kurtis’ case, the policemen performed CPR on him for what witnesses believe to be at least five minutes until paramedics arrived. The man who brought us “The Breaks” and “If I Ruled The World” would have been gone if not for those officers.
Blow went in and out of consciousness a few times as officers used CPR to resuscitate him until paramedics arrived and rushed him to the hospital.
“I died and these officers saved my life,” Walker said as he recovered in a local hospital. “The police saved my life, a Black man. In this day and age, people need to hear that.”
Walker’s comments refer to the massive onslaught of police brutality committed against Black Americans in the…
… last several months, including the deaths of Terence Crutcher, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, just to name a few.
“We didn’t think too much about what we had done,” Vege said of the life-saving measure. “But we were curious to see how the man was doing. So we drove to the hospital later that night, and several people made a big deal about us saving the man’s life. We’re happy for him and his family that he pulled through.”
Walker deemed the responding officers “angels” who “are here to help us.”
“If they got there any later, I would have died,” he continued. “I want to thank the officers from the bottom of my heart, no pun intended.”
But Vege told ABC 7 his crew simply did their job, regardless of receiving a Life Saving Award commendation from LAPD Sgt. Stephan Bell.
“Officers do not hesitate,” Vege said. “They do not judge on what color you are, what religion you are, male, female. We’re going to jump in no matter what to help someone in need.”
If you notice someone having a heart attack, do you know what to do? Here’s some quick notes to help, click here.
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