When Chris Wuebben knocked on a door in Lakewood to deliver a pizza one night in July, he was surprised when a woman answered and told him she was calling 911 because her husband had just collapsed.
“He was blue and pale,” said Weubben, a former Army medic, who immediately raced over to George Linn.
Linn wasn’t breathing. He had no pulse.
“My instincts kicked in,” said Wuebben. “I dragged him off the couch, put him on the floor and started CPR.”
Because of his quick thinking, Linn is now fully recovered.
“That is undoubtedly due to the efforts of Chris, who is an inspiration to us all,” Lakewood Police Chief Kevin Paletta said Thursday at a ceremony where Wuebben received the Bill Daniels Neighborhood Hero Award, which included a plaque and a check for $1,000.
“He was there, stepped up, and did a job that a lot of folks might well be hesitant to do,” said West Metro Fire/Rescue Chief Douglas McBee, whose team arrived to find Wuebben already hard at work in those critical few minutes between when the 911 call was made and the paramedics drove up.
That Wuebben happened to be in the right place at the right time is one of life’s lucky breaks.
After leaving the Army, Wuebben had gotten a job as a paramedic in the Round Lake Fire Department, just north of Chicago.
But he craved a lifestyle of fly-fishing and snowboarding, so he decided to move to Colorado.
He’s been looking for work as an emergency medical technician at local fire departments, but with the tough economy, openings are few and competition extreme.
So, to support himself through the transition, Wuebben has been working at Best Buy and delivering pizzas.
Wuebben said the real heroes of that day were the West Metro Fire/Rescue personnel who worked on Linn as he was transported to the hospital.
At the award ceremony, he said he would rather talk about the message that the Mile High Chapter of the American Red Cross will be emphasizing in September, which is National Preparedness Month.
That goal is to get citizens to participate in “Be Red Cross Ready,” which gives training in such lifesaving skills such as CPR and first aid.
“CPR is so simple and so necessary,” Wuebben said. “Everyone should be certified. It’s our human duty, to take care of your neighbor, like your neighbor takes care of you.”
Colleen O’Connor: 303-954-1083 or coconnor@denverpost.com
