By Doug Carroll
GCU News Bureau
When Logan Romero reviews his list of blessings this Thanksgiving, a pair of Grand Canyon University public safety officers will be at the top of it.
The GCU freshman went into cardiac arrest on the evening of Oct. 27 in his room at Prescott Hall. Thanks to the quick actions of his roommate, Kevin Emery, and the two officers, Pedro Jorge and Martin Alvarez, Romero is here a month later and able to thank them.
Those three kept him alive — barely — by taking turns performing CPR until paramedics from the Phoenix Fire Department could arrive and race him off to Phoenix Baptist Hospital.
“I’m thankful for all of these guys,” Romero said.
On Tuesday morning, Romero’s mother, Stephanie Romero, surprised Emery, Jorge and Alvarez with cash gifts of $200 apiece as a camera from KPHO-TV (Channel 5) recorded the reunion at Prescott Hall.
The “Pay It Forward” segment, reported by Pat McReynolds, is scheduled to air at 10 p.m. Thursday (Thanksgiving night) and again at 5 p.m. Saturday.
Alvarez called the experience “a tunnel-vision moment when you block everything out.” He recalled expressing doubts to Jorge that Romero would survive as the paramedics whisked away the young man on a gurney.
The night was a sleepless one for both officers.
“That night, I was just praying he would make it,” said Jorge, a military veteran, admitting that he was shaken by the experience. “It’s a miracle. I’m glad he’s OK and he’s here with us.”
Alvarez said that while he was performing CPR, Romero locked eyes with him as tears streamed down Romero’s face.
“It was like he was putting me on the spot,” Alvarez said, acknowledging that discouragement had begun to set in. “I had to keep going. I didn’t want to give up.”
The officers insist they were just doing their job, but Stephanie Romero sees them as heroes, saying her son is alive today because of their efforts and those of Emery, along with the paramedics and hospital staff. Logan did not have a history of heart problems, Stephanie said. Doctors told her the attack could have been caused by a virus.
"I am in awe of how many people didn't give up on him," Stephanie said. "God put all the right people in front of him at just the right time."
Contact Doug Carroll at 639.8011 or [email protected].
