Felix Ortiz, a West High School junior, was honored Thursday on the floor of the Utah Senate for his quick action to save the life of a car-crash victim in Salt Lake City earlier this week.
Sen. Luz Escamilla, D-Salt Lake City, presented a citation to honor Ortiz.
The young hero on Tuesday pulled over at a crash on the 600 north on-ramp to northbound I-15, where a car had flipped over. Approaching the car before first responders arrived, Ortiz spotted a man inside who had started to foam at the mouth and turn purple.
Without hesitation, Ortiz pulled the man — who had suffered a medical emergency before crashing — from the car and checked for a pulse. Not finding one, he performed CPR – the first time he had done so on a person after taking a class on the procedure.
He was able to get the man breathing and he was taken to the hospital.