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Being named first-team All-District, winning a state football championship and learning your grandfather (Vicente “Rocky” Arroyo) is one of the newest inductees of the New Mexico Sports Hall of Fame are pretty cool.

But for Rio Rancho High School senior Jeremy Arroyo, knowing you saved your father’s life is even better.

“You gotta do what you gotta do to save the person you love,” Arroyo says.

And, as in football, being in the right place at the right time is important in life, as it was Tuesday for Arroyo.

He had originally been scheduled to work that day at a new job, but was called an hour before he was to report and told to come in Wednesday instead to take care of some paperwork.

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Thus, Arroyo was at his home in Cabezon on Tuesday afternoon, studying for finals, when he decided to take a short break. That’s when his father, Craig, 46, who was on the couch watching TV, told his son to do the dishes.

Then, just after 5:30 p.m., the drama began. Jeremy Arroyo said that, while doing the dishes, “I see him with his face in the couch, breathing super hard and not acting himself. I said, ‘Dad, are you OK?’ (I’ve learned) if they don’t respond, you call 911 and start chest compressions.

” ‘Are you OK? Are you messing with me?’ He gave me this terrifying look, life or death. I rolled him over, opened up his airway, breathed into his chest – it opened him up. Every 15 seconds or so he’d breathe. I did chest compressions, more CPR. In the meantime, I thought he died – he’s not breathing, no pulse – it was scary.

“I thought my dad was going to die in my arms.”

Although a fire rescue squad arrived on the scene only “two or three minutes” after Arroyo’s frantic call at 5:36, he said, “It felt like ages, though; I was so scared.”

Craig Arroyo was rushed to nearby Presbyterian Rust Medical Center, then flown via helicopter to Presbyterian Hospital in Downtown Albuquerque.

Because one of his Rams teammates lived nearby, word of No. 90’s plight spread, and soon head coach David Howes and defensive line coach Pat Mastriano were at Rust, then driving Arroyo and his crying grandmother to Presbyterian Hospital Downtown – where Craig Arroyo’s wife works as a nurse.

“(He had) open-heart surgery (for a) blocked valve; it was completely closed,” Jeremy Arroyo said.

“What an awesome story,” Howes said. “Jeremy really, really stepped up – it was an amazing thing.

“Craig Arroyo is loved by everybody – he rides his bike to work, doesn’t smoke, is in great shape – he’s a fighter,” Howes said. “I knew what kind of guy he is – I knew he was gonna fight. (And) Jeremy has it in him to step up to the challenge.

“I can’t imagine doing CPR on my child or father – it puts everything into perspective,” Howes said.

While he’s proud of the way his Rams went 13-0 this fall to win state, despite only a handful of returnees on defense, including Arroyo, he’s even prouder of Arroyo’s lifesaving efforts.

“(At the hospital), he was told congratulations, you did a fantastic job,” Howes said. “There’s no Hollywood spin on it – he saved his father’s life. And the … hospital there did a phenomenal job.”

The only spin on the story might be Jeremy Arroyo’s familiarity with CPR: He spent time as a lifeguard last summer, where he said, they “did simulations, fake emergencies.

“When you take these classes, you think you’re going to be OK,” he said.

In retrospect, he was more than OK.

Craig Arroyo, who remained in the cardiac critical care unit of the hospital late Saturday, not only works on the “chain gang” at RRHS home games but also traveled to see his son’s road games this fall.

Jeremy Arroyo won’t be back on the field next fall, but Howes said he expects Craig Arroyo to be back on the chain gang.

Jeremy Arroyo will attend college next year, someday hoping to be – what else? – “a firefighter/paramedic. I see all these guys working on my dad – it was amazing, because that’s what I want to do.”