Off-duty EMTs save Cedar City man’s life

A Cedar City man is going home a week after it seemed his life was coming to an end in the parking lot of a supermarket.

But it turns out he has received a new lease on life from two people who didn’t take the term "off-duty" seriously.

About a week ago in this parking lot of the Cedar City Smith’s, 77-year-old Marco Pesantez was loading up his groceries when he suddenly passed out of a cardiac arrest. It turned out there was a little bit of luck on his side.

“There were a couple of EMTs that were off-duty that were actually exiting at the same time, and they saw what happened and they were able to provide CPR right away and effectively, so that's why he's with us today,” Ana Turpin, Pesantez’s daughter, said.

About two and a half years ago, Pesantez fell in love with Cedar City and moved his entire family from Las Vegas there. He was still working to provide right up until the cardiac arrest, doing shifts at the local Chili’s.

He had just cashed his check after shopping at Smith’s when he collapsed.

Workers at the market said they didn’t expect him to make it and were surprised to learn he had recovered and was going home. Turpin said she is indebted to the two off-duty EMTs “for eternity.”

“ I mean, they saved my dad's life,” she said. “ And because of them, he's still here. The doctor, the cardiologist, told us that if he had not received CPR right away like he did, he would have suffered probably brain damage from having no oxygen to his brain.

Turpin said after he spent a week in St. George Regional Hospital after having been airlifted there, Pesantez was being released Monday afternoon.

“The doctors were very shocked because of how things happened. about his fast recovery.”

The only concern for Pesantez and his family now: The medical bills.

“His bills are astronomical and I think that's what's weighing on him and not allowing him to continue to recover like he should,” Turpin said.

Turpin and the rest of the family are trying to raise some money online for his recovery. But they say they’re grateful for two anonymous EMTs who didn't take the term off-duty seriously.