Teenage firefighter steps up to save life of man suffering medical emergency at local Shopko

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GRAFTON, Wis. (CBS 58) -- Grafton's youngest certified firefighter stepped up at the local Shopko when a co-worker had a medical emergency.

That man, thanks to the teenager's quick response, will survive.

All of Daniel Dowty's equipment is brand new, untouched by smoke. His time with the Grafton Fire Department, however, has prepared him for a critical moment that happened just weeks ago.

"I was saying hello to a fellow co-worker and we heard some rustling around so we went over there and found the patient had a medical emergency. It was weird for a change because of the fact that like my store manager, my pharmacist were all back there, bigger people. And they're looking to me for guidance. It's like 'Oh, this is weird.'"

"I was actually on the call so very familiar with the situation and where it happened and how it all played out and Dan's role in that," said Matthew Karpinski, Division Chief for the Grafton Fire Department.

Daniel also says the store's pharmacist deserves credit for helping with CPR and responding firefighters say having Daniel there made their job much easier.

"He really was kind of the lead until more experienced people got there to kind of take over. And he is just a firefighter, he has no medical training other than CPR."

Also impressive -- Daniel does his Shopko and firefighting jobs while doing all the work in his senior year of high school. He's busy but says it's just what he wants to do.

"This I feel like I get to do a lot more with and it does a lot more for me."

When he graduates, he plans to attend UW-Stevens Point and pursue a natural resources degree. He also says he'll apply for full time firefighter jobs up there to see what happens.

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