Cops credited with saving man's life: 'We're going to bring him back'

March 25--It had been only moments since the 75-year-old man collapsed in traffic on North Michigan Avenue, but he had no vital signs by the time two Chicago police officers reached him Tuesday afternoon.

More minutes passed as officers Sergio Valdez and Michael Lawrence administered CPR but they were able to revive the man, a tourist from Georgia. Officials say they saved his life.

"He was pale, he was laying on the ground, you could tell he was unconscious," Valdez said Wednesday. "We checked for vital signs, he had no vital signs. So my impression is we gotta help this man. If we can help him out and bring him back, we're going to bring him back."

Valdez and Lawrence were on bike patrol around 2:20 p.m. Tuesday when they were flagged down about a block from Michigan Avenue and Walton Street.

"We seen he wasn't breathing, checked for a pulse, he didn't have a pulse," Lawrence said. "We immediately started administering CPR. We continued CPR until paramedics arrived."

While Lawrence was doing chest compressions on the man, a doctor jumped out of her car and helped. She disappeared before giving police any information, Lawrence said.

The man vomited when he started to regain consciousness and the officers turned him on his side to clear his airway, police said.

"And the tongue. . .it kept rolling back," Valdez said. "We tried to make sure it didn't go in the back and suffocate him."

The man was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where his condition was stabilized. His wife was consoled by a passerby while the officers worked, Valdez said.

"We were just in the right place at the right time," Lawrence said. "The heroes are honestly the medical staff at the hospital who stabilized him and the paramedics on the scene. We just played a small part."

Valdez and Lawrence, 13- and 11-year veterans of the force, are assigned to the Area Central Bicycle Unit.

Both officers credited their quick response to being on bicycles instead of in a beat car.

"The bicycle is actually the best way to utilize getting around in the city. I would never, never get in a police car ever again. Unless my city needs me," Lawrence said.