LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Just after midnight on Tuesday morning, people were leaving bars and restaurants on Fourth street when it happened.
A man, holding his bleeding neck, approached a group of people and asked for help.
The group was made up of out-of-towners in Louisville for the American Association of Laboratory Animal Sciences National Meeting.
When the man approached, they thought it was a Halloween stunt. Then he showed them his neck.
"When he took his hand off more blood was there - and that's when we realized this is serious, this is real," Lieutenant Colonel Luis Lugo said.
Visiting from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Maryland, he said his group was trained for that moment.
"This is what we do," 20-plus year veteran Michael Junio said.
Lieutenant Colonel Krinon Moccia said the team operated seamlessly.
The team sprung into action, and everyone took on a role. First, they convinced the blood-soaked man to sit down, one person grabbed clean napkins, another applied pressure to the neck, and another called 911.
When the man said his name, Lugo recognized Spanish may be a better way to reach him.
"I'm originally from Puerto Rico, I spoke to him in Spanish," Lugo said. "Trying to calm him down, reassuring him, I looked at him in his eyes and said 'look at me, you are going to be okay.' Because he was telling us he was going to die."
By the time the ambulance came, Lugo said the man was coding and his face turned pale.
"I completely lost faith, I thought we lost him," he said.
But they didn't; they kept him alive.
Later that night police arrested Sean Coats for the crime.
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