WILBERFORCE — Central State University honored one of its own officers on Saturday after she saved a student’s life last month.
Officer Jeananna Diaz was recognized during halftime at the Marauders’ basketball game.
On Oct. 20, Diaz was at the front door of the Greene and Anderson Residential Halls conducting a monthly fire drill when a student, Josh Gartley, fell to the ground and appeared to be having a seizure. He then lost consciousness and stopped breathing.
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“I did get this feeling come over me like ‘oh no,’” Diaz said.
Diaz called local paramedics. She then used her training to begin chest compressions and two rounds of rescue breathing until paramedics arrived.
“I knew that I knew what to do, so I just did it,” Diaz told News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott.
By the time paramedics arrived, Diaz had successfully gotten Gartley to begin breathing again and could feel a faint pulse. She said feeling that pulse was a “complete relief.”
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Gartley was taken to Miami Valley Hospital. Doctors there found he had a rare abnormal heart rhythm. Gartley returned home to Chicago to recover and will return to CSU in January.
On Saturday, CSU President Jack Thomas presented Diaz with the Lifesavers Award.
“We call her a ‘shero’ here at Central State University,” Thomas said.
Diaz said she was just doing her job,
“I’m just doing what God called me to do,” Diaz said.
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