The Day I Learned What I Was Capable Of

I didn’t plan on becoming anyone’s hero that day.

I wasn’t thinking about CPR or the healthcare pathway classes I’d taken at school. I was just heading toward the Pawnee Plunge Water Park in Columbus with my two cousins and my baby brother on a hot July Sunday, the kind where everyone moves a little slower and looks for shade.

Then I saw the crowd. 

People were gathered near the entrance, voices sharp with panic. I felt that cold rush of fear and curiosity, and before I could even think it through, I was moving toward them.

On the ground was a man, who I'd later learn was named Chuck Putnam, lying completely still. His wife was pacing on a call with 911, shaking, trying to explain what had happened. He had collapsed after walking out of the water park, and by the time I reached him, he wasn’t conscious.

I told someone to make sure an ambulance was on the way. I checked for his pulse and listened for breathing. It was weak, and he was gasping. 

I didn’t have time to debate with myself. In that moment, I remembered my training. I remembered how my instructor told us that someday, we might be the difference between life and death.

I took a breath and started compressions. Thirty pushes down in the center of the chest, then two breaths.

I counted out loud to keep pace, trying to stay calm. A woman nearby helped me keep Chuck cool with a towel, because it was such a hot day. His skin started turning blue, and all I could think was that if I didn’t keep going, he wouldn’t make it.

After another round, he started to show small signs of coming back, but I kept working until I heard paramedics racing toward us. When they reached him, I stepped back and let them take over.

Once they took Chuck away, I walked through the gates of the water park in a kind of shock. It didn’t feel real. I kept replaying the moment, amazed that something I’d learned only a few months earlier had suddenly become the thing I needed most.

Growing Into Who I Want To Become

Before that day, I already had a strong interest in healthcare.

I’m a junior at Columbus High School, involved in SkillsUSA, Key Club, and soon to be involved in powerlifting. SkillsUSA is actually why I started learning CPR in the first place.

My instructor encouraged me to join, mainly because of the CPR competitions they host. I took Health Science I and completed my CNA course over the summer, earning my certification in June.

My passion for healthcare started earlier, when my baby sister was diagnosed with Down syndrome. I spent a lot of time around nurses, watching how they cared for her and how they cared for us, too. 

It sparked something in me.

I realized that nursing wasn’t only about medicine. It was also about listening, comforting, and showing up when people needed someone the most.

I didn’t expect to put my training to the test so soon. I definitely didn’t expect it to happen in front of a water park.

Finding Chuck, and Being Found in Return

What made everything even more surprising was that hardly anyone knew it was me at first. I wrote a report for the park staff, then went home quietly. 

But a few days later, people started talking about a Facebook post asking who had saved a man named Chuck Putnam.

A friend sent it to me, and I realized his family was searching for me.

Eventually, his daughter-in-law reached out and invited me to meet Chuck and his family. We met at Applebee’s. He called me his guardian angel. I didn’t know what to say.

All I could think was that I was just doing what I had been trained to do. 

But meeting him, seeing him alive, made everything hit me in a new way. We still talk, almost every day, and he continues to remind me of how grateful he is.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.

A Calling, Confirmed

After the story spread, my school recognized me, and students and teachers stopped me in the hallways.

It was overwhelming at times. People kept calling me a hero, but I tried to remind myself that anyone with the proper training could have done what I did. 

Still, the experience changed me. It made nursing feel less like an idea and more like a purpose.

When I think about other students deciding what they want to do with their lives, I hope my story shows them that they don’t have to wait to make a difference.

The size of the act doesn’t determine the size of the impact. If you have a skill that could help someone, use it. If you feel called to healthcare, don’t be scared.

There will be people who support you, and one day you might be the person who changes everything for someone else.

Walking Into a Stadium I Never Imagined

I also learned that Chuck nominated me for the Pioneer Heroes recognition, and I was chosen as Nebraska’s hero for the 2025 Nebraska-Iowa Heroes Game.

I found out while I was at school. I listened to his voicemail in the hallway, and my heart was racing. I had never been to a college football game before—not once—and now my first one would be the Heroes Game, standing on the field at halftime with my family watching.

My parents are proud. My mom still gets emotional when she talks about it, and she asks if I’m doing OK after everything. I tell her I am. I’m grateful. I feel like God put me in the right place at the right time, and I was able to help because of the people who trained me and believed in me.

When I walk into that stadium, I’ll be thinking of Chuck. I’ll be thinking of my sister. I’ll be thinking of my classmates who might one day save a life, too. 

And I’ll be thinking about the moment I learned that even someone who is only 16 can be brave enough to step forward when it matters.

I didn’t plan to be a hero. I just saw someone who needed help, and I did what I could. That’s all any of us can do. 

But I’m honored to be recognized, and excited to celebrate with my family at a football game I will remember for the rest of my life.