CASA GRANDE, AZ — An Arizona man credits a Casa Grande police officer with saving his life.
Chuck Bowser, 87, told ABC15 he doesn't remember the incident itself but recalls waking up in the hospital.
"I woke up...what am I doing in here?" Bowser recalled.
Bowser's wife had called 911 after Chuck started to have difficulty breathing. A responding Casa Grande police officer told ABC15 he found Bowser not breathing and without a pulse inside his home.
"I think it's time to start the compressions and render the first aid," remembers Ofc. Curtis Kieser "Get him back."
Ofc. Kieser says he put Bowser on the floor and after roughly 40 compressions he heard a breath.
"It was the best feeling in the world," he said.
Ofc. Kieser says in more than a dozen similar situations, this marked his first where the compressions ended with a breath. The two sat down together on Friday to share details of the incident with ABC15.
"I'm very thankful for what he did," Bowser said. "I know darn well; I wouldn't be here."
Bowser says he had been dealing with pneumonia and a virus when the incident happened back in March. He is still recovering, but thankful he survived.
"I would have died, simple as that," he said. " [My wife] couldn't get me out of the chair. I guess I was what you call dead weight."
The two, able to both joke about the incident now, have formed a bond.
"It's something I'm never going to forget," Ofc. Kieser said. "I think Chuck is a friend of mine for life now."
