By: Shasha Granado

On a hot summer day in June, Davis Michelle, Zane Arnold, Aaron Locke and Brad Whitt, lifeguards on duty at the Carpenter Park Recreation Center in Plano, Texas, received “a code red” and activated their emergency action plan.

They “ran from the pool into the weight room and saw the man unconscious, lying on the ground,” says Michelle. Sixty-four-year-old Neim Nguyen had suffered a heart attack and collapsed during one of his regular workouts. Beside him were Cynthia and Gregory Rushin, Plano’s former police chief, who had already started doing CPR.

The lifeguards quickly took control. Michelle performed eight rounds of CPR and applied an automated external defibrillator (AED). The victim began looking around, breathing on his own. They confirmed Nguyen had a pulse, and EMS arrived a moment later, taking over care.

“I am forever thankful to them. I mean, if those guys are not around, maybe I’m not here today," says Nguyen. He has been going to the Carpenter Park Recreation Center for over 10 years and frequented the weight and cardio rooms five times a week.

For their swift, heroic actions, the American Red Cross presented all six responders with Red Cross lifesaving awards during a ceremony featuring Red Cross Certificate of Merit recipient and Complex Supervisor for the Plano Parks and Recreation Chris Alban, American Red Cross North Texas Region CEO Linda Braddy and Plano City Council Member Shelby Williams on Nov. 15, 2024.

“An incident can happen anywhere, and sometimes we are in the right place at the right time,” says Alban. "The staff here in the city dedicate countless hours to their training and are the ones who take the mission to heart to provide a safe environment knowing at any given moment they may need to act in the line of duty for someone in need of critical lifesaving skills.”

Braddy presented the Red Cross Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders to all four lifeguards. Whitt also received the American Red Cross Lifesaving Instructor Award, which is given to instructors who teach critical lifesaving and life-sustaining skills.

The Rushins received the American Red Cross Certificate of Extraordinary Personal Action. This award is reserved for those who, even without Red Cross training, still step up courageously in an emergency to alleviate suffering.

“Anybody that can do something is better than doing nothing,” Michelle says. “And anything that you do is obviously going to help in a big way. Just having a little general knowledge of what you can do to help can go a long way…so get trained if you can.”

The Red Cross encourages everyone to learn first aid, CPR and how to use an AED, so they’ll have the knowledge and confidence to act in an emergency and help save lives. Every second counts in an emergency, so people need to know what to do until medical help arrives. Train for the moments that matter. Visit redcross.org to register for a course today.