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'Don Juan' Restaurant Manager Saves Customer Who Collapsed In Parking Lot

LA SALLE, Colo. (CBS4) – A restaurant manager in La Salle is being heralded as a hero after he came to the aid of one of his customers who had collapsed in the parking lot. The immediate actions by Jorge Orozco-Sanchez, manager of Don Juan Mexican Restaurant, combined with the aid from local first responders, may have saved Bob Walker's life.

Walker and his wife, Dixie, have been regular customers at Don Juan's since it opened in 2005. On Halloween, Bob and some friends stopped by the Second Avenue mainstay for lunch.

"We saw him fall," said Orozco-Sanchez. "We were like, 'Oh gosh! And we just ran out there.'"

Security video from the restaurant shows Walker walk up to his truck and appear to drop something. When he reached down to pick the item up, he collapsed.

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(credit: CBS)

"I was just down and out," Walker remembers. "I didn't have no heart pains or nothing."

After he collapsed in the parking lot, you can see two men run out to help. One of them was Orozco-Sanchez, who started chest compressions until first responders got there.

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(credit: CBS)

Until that moment, the Orozco-Sanchez had never done chest compressions before or rendered first aid. He tells CBS4 he simply acted on his instincts.

"I truly feel the good Lord was watching over everybody," said Dixie Walker. '"Even Jorge, because he responded the way he did."

Nearly a month later, Walker is finally home and continuing to recover. He still has several broken ribs and countless bruises across his body.

He's since thanked Jorge, who, of course, visited him at the hospital after the medical scare.

"I told him, 'You don't know how thankful I am to have you there helping me, buddy,'" Bob Walker said.

For Orozco-Sanchez, who prides himself in the relationships he makes with his customers, the gesture was a no-brainer.

"They're part of my family too. We do everything for our family," he said.

This isn't the first time Jorge has helped someone out in their time of need. In 2008, he was driving a semi and hit head-on by another driver. He then pulled two girls from their burning car before it exploded.

 

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