Two Kansas City police officers receive award for saving man’s life at Arrowhead Stadium

Two Kansas City police officers were publicly recognized Tuesday for helping to save the life of a Chiefs fan who suffered an unusual medical emergency last year at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas City police Capt. Ryan Mills and Officer Aaron Smith received the Police Department’s Life-Saving Award at a Board of Police Commissioners meeting where the man, James Grimmett of Coffeyville, came to thank them personally.

At the meeting, Grimmett recalled the Dec. 10, 2017 episode:

Grimmett and his son had made their way out of the crowded Arrowhead Stadium after witnessing the Chiefs’ sound thrashing of their arch nemesis the Oakland Raiders.

While the mass of fans celebrated the Week 14, 15-26 victory, Grimmett began to feel strange. As he prepared to drive home to Coffeyville, he passed out.

“I got ready to step into the truck, onto the running board, and just like a switch went off, my lights went out,” Grimmett said.

When he lost consciousness, he struck his head on the pavement. He stopped breathing and had no pulse.

The two police officers, Mills and Smith, were patrolling the parking lot and saw the incident unfold. They quickly rushed over.

Smith performed CPR while Mills summoned an ambulance.

“You know what traffic is like after a game,” Mills said on Tuesday. “After the game, everybody is leaving, tailgating or just hanging out.”

“It takes a while to get an ambulance inside there but thankfully, the Chiefs and their staff have a plan to get vehicles in there for cases like that and the plan did seem to work,” he said.

Paramedics arrived and took over administering first aid. They used an automated external defibrillator to revive Grimmett, who was rushed to a hospital.

“They saved my life,” Grimmett said.

On Tuesday, Mills and Smith were presented with the Life-Saving award by Chief Rick Smith.

Grimmett said making the three-hour drive from Coffeyville to personally thank the officers was “a no-brainer.”

“It is my pleasure to be here,” Grimmett said. “They performed admirably. They did what they were trained to do.”

Grimmett said Mills went above and beyond the call of duty when he paid him a visit the next day at the hospital. Mills wanted to see how Grimmett was progressing.

Mills said he was grateful that Grimmett took the time out of his schedule to attend the monthly police board meeting where the award was presented.

“There are a lot of good people who have done a lot of great things but I have never had somebody come from out of town just to thank the officers for that,” Mills said. “It meant a lot of me, it was really special. It made me feel good to see him.”