SALINAS, Calif.- A North Salinas High School senior was working at his part-time job when he witnessed a young man beaten and stabbed.
What that teen did next makes him one of this year's Red Cross heroes.
We caught up with Nathan Rosillo over web cam because he joined the marines and is stationed in Florida. He's following his father's footsteps and the lessons he learned growing up may have helped that spring day last year, a day that still haunts Nathan.
"To be honest I try not to think of it a whole lot."
It was his senior year and Nathan was working his part-time job selling newspaper subscriptions door to door. All of a sudden he saw a teenager being beaten and stabbed, left for dead.
"There were about four cars that passed by...It happened all so fast, there was no time to think," said Nathan.
Without thinking about the risks of getting involved, Nathan and his boss helped the 15 year old staggering down the sidewalk, into their car.
"The minute the door opened up I thought I got to get him in, got to get him to a hospital make sure he's ok."
As they drove, Nathan applied pressure to multiple stab wounds and talked to the teen to keep him from blacking out.
"It literally came down to instincts, I was literally grabbing whatever I had, my own shirt, his shirt, newspapers."
To say Nathan's parents were worried when he came home hours later with blood on his shirt would be an understatment, "We just started asking every question we could think of...As a parent you're just like God! I couldn't believe it but at the same time I understood it because he's the same way," Rosie Rosillo said of her husband, Richard.
Once they calmed down, Richard and Rosie Rosillo said they weren't surprised Nathan stepped up when it counted.
"It's a proud moment. For him to be able to do something like what he did, it shows his character, who he is," said Richard.
The teenager survived after a week in the hospital. When he came home, Nathan got him a job, and was even there when the teen's baby was born. The baby was named Nathaniel, he said by pure coincidence. Maybe. Or maybe a sign, Nathan was there that day for a reason.
"I just saw someone that needed help and I just figured 'Ok nothing really matters just that this kid really needs to get help,'" said Nathan.
On Saturday, May 19th, Nathan along with several other Central Coast heroes will be honored.
