Diego Aguilera is a freshman at Buena Vista University in Iowa. He started a new job at Walmart and was being trained as an associate in the produce department by a man in his 60s. Then all of a sudden, the guy clutched his chest and slumped over a box of bananas.
The man’s face turned white and he was sweating, he was having a heart attack. Aguilera remained calm and jumped into action. He checked his pulse and starting chest compressions and when the man regained consciousness, Diego knew it was important to keep him awake so he calmly started asking him questions to help him stay awake.
"I was asking him about his kids. Their names, their ages, just so he could focus on something. I figured getting him to think about his kids would keep him engaged.”
After a few minutes, the man finally spoke. We need a code white, Aguilera recalled him saying, which is Walmart’s code for an accident.
Once Diego knew the man would be able to stay awake for a few minutes he ran to the office to tell the manager, Kristy Wagner because he hadn't been trained on how to use their phones and wasn't issued a walkie talkie yet. She called for police and an ambulance and the man is now recovering at home.
“In my mind, it wasn’t really scary in that moment,” this hero explains. “It was more: What can I do right now to help? There was no time to think about it. I had to keep moving.”