Fast-Acting MB Police Officers, Residents Help Save Man's Life

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — It started much like many other days, with a 4- to 5-mile early morning run along the beach. But when Manhattan Beach resident Chris Barra, 53, headed home, things took a life-threatening turn. Barra, an avid runner and fit U.S. Army brigadier general, went into cardiac arrest.

That was on May 18, and Barra and his wife Lory had been homeschooling their kids due to COVID-19. When a Manhattan Beach Police Officer showed up at her door that morning instead of her husband, Lory rushed to the hospital. "Oh my gosh," she told MB Patch. "They [police] absolutely saved his life." She was so moved by the efforts of MB Fire Department personnel, the police officers and caring residents, that Lory posted about her husband's miraculous survival on Nextdoor so all could share in the happy story.

What the Barras hand't known was how close Chris came to succumbing to the "widow maker," aptly named due to its propensity to kill its victims almost instantly. "Every star was aligned for Chris," said Lory. She explained that as he passed out from the heart attack, his truck veered into a parked vehicle at a low rate of speed. From there, everything did indeed line up in Chris' favor.

Blaine Kuiper, 34, heard "a very soft crunch" and looked outside his window to see a Ford Raptor next to another vehicle, its tires spinning, its driver in distress. He grabbed his phone and ran outside barefoot. He could see that the front part of the truck was caught in the vehicle it had hit and that the rear tires spinning were causing a burnout that could lead to fish tailing. he knew the driver's foot must still be on the gas pedal. He knew he needed to get inside the truck. He tried the door handle. It was locked. But in a miraculous occurrence, the driver's side window was down so Kuiper reached inside and opened the door. He grabbed Chris' leg, taking it off the gas pedal. He put the truck in park, turned off the engine and called 9-1-1. He had noticed the man was "really struggling to breathe. Then he noticed the man had stopped breathing.

Right at that time, police cars began to arrive. Officers, he said, "put the guy down on the ground in the middle of the intersection." Fortunately for Chris, he incident happened at Manhattan Avenue basically at 15th Street, putting him a block or two from City Hall and the police department. MBPD Officer Jesse Garcia was "out patrolling the downtown area that morning when I heard the dispatch radio call of a traffic collision on 15th Street and Manhattan Avenue. The caller told dispatch that he believed the driver was having a medical emergency. Since I was approximately 2 blocks from the scene of the collision (15th Street and Valley Drive), I responded using lights and siren and arrived within a minute of the call being dispatched. Once at the scene and before I could get out of my patrol car, I had a bystander run up to me to tell me that the driver was not breathing. I ran up to the driver and noticed he was unresponsive," Officer Garcia told MB Patch.

"I attempted to find a pulse along his neck but could not find one. I also saw that his chest was not rising, indicating that he was not breathing. Officer [Jennifer] Borys helped me carry the driver out of his truck and placed him on the ground. Referring back to my training I’ve gained in the military and as a police officer, I immediately knew I had to and did not hesitate in starting chest compressions. When Officer [Andre] Abreu arrived on scene, I told him to retrieve a manual CPR resuscitation bag we usually carry in our patrol vehicles to help with CPR. As I continued with compressions, we were able to feel a pulse and saw the driver’s chest rise on its own. A few seconds later, MBFD arrived and took over life-saving measures."

Kuiper said the response by Manhattan Beach's police and fire department personnel was "really quite impressive." Kuiper noted that another resident helped out on scene. And he's "really happy he [Chris Barra] has made mostly a full recovery." That comment was made a week before Chris' final surgery, which was yesterday (June 17). For Kuiper, who is a "car guy," he "thought the first step" was to "stop the tires from rotating and spinning out."

Another resident, identified only as Mary, also came on scene and called 9-1-1 before police arrived. Lory told MB Patch Mary "witnessed them [police] take his lifeless body from the truck," a picture that makes Lory understandably emotional. As an Army wife for 30 years, she said it's "very difficult for me to accept help." But after the folks immediately on scene tended to Chris as did hospital staff when he arrived, Lory thanks her neighbors and the Manhattan Beach community for their efforts on behalf of the Barra family.

Chris and Lory have 3 children, and their 9-year-old daughter has Type I diabetes, said Lory. Homeschooling and their daughter's medical condition keep the family busy. She is also thankful to neighbors and the community who stepped up to help. "I am so grateful to everyone in the community," she said. Upon learning of the situation, friends of the Barra's made T-shirts in a shade of Army green with the words #BarraStrong on them. She noted all proceeds over $1,000 will be donated to MB's police and fire departments. "I just cannot express my gratitude to this community for the overwhelming abundance of love, caring, support and generosity we’ve been bestowed, said Lory. "These are the stories that also need to be reported, not all the hate and negativity!"

Yesterday, Chris went in for surgery to see if stents would work and be enough or if he needed open heart surgery. Said Lory, "I took him to the hospital at 6 a.m. Once again they wouldn’t even let me in the door because of COVID so I wasn’t able to go check him in." In keeping with the many twists of fate that have gone in his direction, Chris only needed stents. "He's just an amazing miracle," Lory said. "He was in the hospital [the first time] for a week and walked out on his own. We were told Chris' body had created its own bypass for him [when his artery was blocked]. HIs body just compensated." She said Chris' heart is "super OK' but that his main artery was 100% blocked, which put him in the "widow maker" category. Fortunately, Chris' fitness, body and the help of citizens, police, fire, neighbors and community members has turned what could have been a tragedy into a story of miracles. Lory noted that had Chris had the widow maker just two days prior when the family was out in the desert and no one was around on the course Chris ran his 4 to 5 miles, the outcome could have been very different.

Lory thanks the Manhattan Beach police force for all of their attention and care. She said, in addition to the heroic life-saving efforts of Officers Garcia, Borys and Abreu, the police force followed through and checked in on the family after the initial incident on May 18. She said Lt. Andy Harrod told her "It was our honor {to help save your husband] because he's done so much for our country." As it is, Chris and Officer Garcia have both served in Iraq.

MBPD has continued to check in on the family and has posed for photos with Chris. And the #BarraStrong T-shirts continue to be ordered to keep pace with demand. "This community has just been amazing and outstanding," said Lory. "People have been wonderful."