Luis Martinez is lucky to be alive.
If it wasn’t for two men who spotted him lying down blue in the face after falling off his bicycle last month at a Rosemead park, he might not be alive today.
"I'm thankful to God and to these two guys," said Martinez a month after the accident. "They are my angels."
Those angels are an anesthesiologist and a homeless man who happened to know CPR.
The drama started Nov. 4 when Dr. George Fedor, an anesthesiologist at Beverly Hospital in Montebello, was out for an afternoon run at Whittier Narrows Recreation Area in Rosemead.
He noticed Martinez lying on the ground near a bike path. Martinez had a gash on his forehead and was laboring for breath before losing consciousness.
Martinez, of Pico Rivera, had fallen off his bike and wasn’t wearing a helmet. The last thing he remembers was taking a picture of a squirrel before he blacked out.
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Patrick, who gave only his first name, was closest to Martinez when he fell. Right away, Patrick began doing chest compressions while Fedor began giving him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
They were able to keep him alive until paramedics could arrive.
“Medically, Luis was in cardiopulmonary arrest,” Fedor said.
Fedor feels fortunate that he had such a key partner at his side that day. Patrick, it turns out, was an emergency medical technician who had hoped to be a paramedic.
Though Patrick’s dream fell through, Fedor feels it was great that the commercial truck driver -- now homeless -- was able to put to practical use something he had studied years ago.
“It really makes you look at people differently,” Fedor said. “This man helped me to save another man’s life.”
Martinez is grateful.
“We might start a band, you never know,” Martinez said. “He’s a smart guy, very smart.”
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