Nov 5, 2016 via HHDX http://hiphopdx.com/news/id.41145/t...ficers-for-saving-his-life-after-heart-attack November 5, 2016 | 11:25 AM by Henry Mansell LOS ANGELES, CA – Kurtis Blow has credited three LAPD officers with saving his life after the pioneering rapper suffered a heart attack in the Woodland Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles last Saturday (October 29). Chris Vege, Calvin Hill and Pete Parra, officers with the LAPD, responded to what was initially a robbery call at around 9 p.m. local time, however it later turned out to be an argument between Blow — real name Kurtis Walker — and his son. While the three officers spoke to the pair, Blow collapsed. Detailing the incident to ABC 7 yesterday (November 4) Parra shares how Blow came to a few times and the officers were able to temporarily revive him. But he added that Blow went out a few more times as they performed CPR on him. “I was holding his head, making sure he was stable, making sure his airway was open,” Vege said. After around five minutes of back and forth, local paramedics arrived and rushed Blow to a nearby hospital. “The police saved my life, a Black man,” Kurtis Blow said in a statement. “In this day and age, people need to hear that!” “They got there so fast,” he added. “If they got there any later, I would have died. I want to thank the officers from the bottom of my heart, no pun intended.” In the midst of racial tensions with reports of police brutality swirling, Vege emphasized that police are trained to serve and protect no matter a person’s skin tone. “[Police] officers do not hesitate,” he said. “They don’t judge on what color you are, what religion you are, male, female. We’re doing to jump in no matter what to help someone in need.”
Nov 5, 2016 Warms my heart, mayne. These are the breaaaaaaaks. Between all this media manipulation and mayhem. And political devolution. Sorely needed
Nov 6, 2016 "The police saved my life, a black man. In this day and age, people need to hear that," said Kurtis Blow (via a statement shared by the LAPD). As of Friday (Nov. 4), hip-hop pioneer Kurtis Blow is still in the hospital recovering from a heart attack he suffered the preceding Saturday (Oct. 29) at a bus stop in Canoga Park in LA. The popular 80s rapper, whose real name is Kurtis Walker, has credited a group of police officers with saving his life, according to a press release shared by the LAPD. "I died and these officers saved my life," Walker is quoted as saying. "The police saved my life, a black man. In this day and age, people need to hear that." Officers Peter Parra, Felix Rodriguez, Chris Vege, and Calvin Hill arrived at the scene in response to a call from a security guard about an altercation that turned out to involve the 57-year-old rapper and his 20-year-old son. According to the press release, police soon became aware that there was no crime being committed, though officers still approached the two men. "As soon as we walked up to the group, the older man just collapsed," Vege said. "We didn't think about it, we just acted." "I swept his airway for obstructions," said Vega, "and Officer Hill started chest compressions." The chest compressions reportedly continued for several minutes, until paramedics arrived and transported Walker to West Hill Hospital. "I know the paramedics came quickly, but it seemed like a really long time when you're pressing on a man's chest, hoping he won't die," said Hill. Walker apparently wishes to meet the officers who saved him. “They got there so fast. If they got there any later, I would have died,” he said via the LAPD's statement. "I want to thank the officers from the bottom of my heart, no pun intended.” Kurtis Blow is known as one of the first hip-hop acts to break into the mainstream and for giving the genre its first gold single with 1980's "The Breaks."
