Kurtis Blow is currently recovering from a heart attack, which occurred Saturday evening while the rapper was out with his son.
Police were responding to what they believed was a robbery, but when they arrived on the scene, it turned out to be a false alarm. They spotted Blow and his son arguing at a bus stop near Westfield Promenade in Los Angeles and were talking to the pair when Blow collapsed
According to ABC7, Officers Chris Vege, Calvin Hill and Pete Parra immediately went into action. “I was holding his head, making sure he was stable, making sure his airway was open,” Vege told reporters. The officers performed CPR before medics arrived.
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In a statement, Blow thanked the officers: “The police saved my life, a Black man. In this day and age, people need to hear that! They got there so fast. If they got there any later, I would have died. I want to thank the officers from the bottom of my heart, no pun intended.”
Blow was the first solo rapper signed to a label in 1979, a big move for a then fledgling genre. His hit “The Breaks” was the first rap single to be certified gold.
Officer Hill added that he, Parra, and Vege don’t need the recognition, they were just doing their duty, “protecting and serving.”