ST PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul Police Commander was honored Wednesday afternoon for his actions at a concert in January this year.
"It was loud, I mean, very, very loud," Commander John Linssen said, remembering the Travis Scott concert at the Xcel Energy Center he worked. "It's a full house."
Thr award comes from his actions at the end of the concert. Linssen was one of the first to respond after a man had a medical emergency in one of the suites at the Xcel Energy Center.
"I heard one of the suite staff on the radio say that they needed EMS, and they had a man down," Linssen said. "Checked, he had no pulse, wasn't breathing so we started CPR, sent somebody to grab an AED."
Linssen worked quickly with other first responders and staff to get the man transported to the hospital.
"It's pretty profound, I think, that I had an opportunity to be part of a group that saved this mans life," he said.
That man, though, has a connection to Linssen – and it all started with a gift.
"I said, hey, I'm gonna bring him a cookie next time, and that, I did that about six times," Roy Hunn, who met Linssen at the X many times previously, said. "The rest is history."
Hunn owns Keys Cafes, and ran into Linssen multiple times. He never knew that that connection would end up saving his life. In front of Hunn and Linssen's family, friends and coworkers, Linssen was honored by his department for his actions that day.
"I mean, I owe him everything," Hunn said. "And now we're lifelong friends."
It's not the first time the two have reunited since that day, but this may be the most special.
"I feel pretty humbled to be involved in that," Linssen said. "I just feel like I did my job."