This week's hero is a 16 year old girl from Nebraska who saw a man lying in a parking lot and administered CPR, saving his life. Here's the story.
16-year-old from Columbus, Nebraska Saves Man with CPR
KETV Nov 27, 2025, Pete CuddihyCOLUMBUS, Neb. —Friday marks the 15th annual Heroes Game between Nebraska and Iowa. Each year, both schools choose a person to represent the state as its very own hero. Nebraska's homegrown hero is a 16-year-old from Columbus.
Ashley de la Cruz Martin was walking into Pawnee Plunge Water Park when she saw an unresponsive man, Chuck Putnam, on the ground in the parking lot. "I found out that he fell on the floor, hit his head and was unconscious," she said. After checking his pulse and breathing, she noticed he was gasping for air and had a very low pulse. "So then I was like, OK, then we're just going to start with CPR," she said.
Putnam had gone into cardiac arrest, and de la Cruz Martin performed CPR on him until first responders arrived. "If she didn't perform CPR until the paramedics arrived, I wouldn't have made it," said Putnam.
Despite having learned CPR in school just two months prior, de la Cruz Martin was not afraid to act quickly. "I just started, like, looking at Chuck, and I'm like, he is in my hands right now. And that genuinely just made me take it more serious," she said.
"God put a guardian angel in that parking lot that they named Ashley, and thank goodness she, she played the role to a T," said Putnam.After being released from the hospital, Putnam made it his mission to meet and honor his guardian angel."I want to nominate her for whatever was out there because of what she did for me," he said.
De la Cruz Martin was first recognized by the Columbus School Board, then the city of Columbus. Her biggest honor will be Friday, when she represents the state as Nebraska's hero at the Nebraska-Iowa game. "Without you being there, I probably wouldn't be here today. So, she is my hero," Putnam said.
"I'm really thankful that I'm going to get supported," de la Cruz Martin said.In front of 90,000 fans at Memorial Stadium, Putnam will join his hero on the field. "I'm going to be so proud to be standing next to her, the person that saved my life," he said.
De la Cruz Martin's heroic act even inspired Putnam to learn CPR so he can be someone's guardian angel if needed. "What she did was not unbelievable. What she did was Ashley being Ashley," Putnam said. Her bravery has created a lasting bond between the two unlikely strangers. "This has been a friendship that started on July 27, and it's going to last forever," Putnam said.
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