CINCINNATI — A Withrow High School alumnus involved in life-saving treatment given to Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is got a hero's celebration Saturday.
The Withrow Class of '94 showered John Bush Jr. with praise at Kickbacks on Vine Street from 4-7 p.m. Saturday.
"I tell people about him all the time," Corey Wynn said of his friend. "I've got a brother that is one of the best human beings that I've ever met."
Wynn met Bush in sixth grade. They're part of a group of Withrow graduates who are tighter than family, texting one another often.
Those bonds helped Bush through 16 years of struggles. He began work at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center as a part-time housekeeper. Bush then transported patients. When he saw respiratory therapists work wonders with patients, Bush found his passion. He took classes at Cincinnati State while working and helping his wife raise two children and pay mortgage, Bush said. After three years, Bush passed board exams and became a therapist.
"What drives me is just love," Bush said. "Love is life and life is God and love is God. Therefore, if you love, you want to help. With me helping people breathe better, it's no better profession. The reward for me is just seeing a patient get better, go home, make it out of the situation they came in with."
Five years ago, UC Health physicians drafted Bush to join a select team of respiratory therapists and doctors that handle emergency care for the Cincinnati Bengals. They routinely practice managing care in the worst-case scenarios, Bush said.
So when Hamlin collapsed from cardiac arrest during Monday Night Football at Paycor Stadium on Jan. 2, Bush helped the Bills' safety survive.
"God just placed me in the right place at the right time," Bush said.
While he was working to save Hamlin, another classmate was on the field too, as the coach of the Ben-Gal Cheerleaders.
"I've never experienced that level of support, that level of prayer, that level of understanding of the magnitude of the situation," Deanna Hazeley said.
The support she saw inside of Paycor Stadium continued once the fans left, not just for Hamlin, but for the medical professionals and first responders involved in Hamlin's care.
When word spread of Bush's role, he said he received calls and messages from many people, including NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.
"(There is) just overwhelming love coming my way from the comments on Facebook and Instagram and all the social media," he said. "Family I haven't seen in a while, they're reaching out. It's just giving their gratitude and love to me because that's what I believe this message was from this whole ordeal: it's a message of love. Love conquers all."
Many of those family and friends gathered Saturday.
"I think everybody in this room that is here showing support is so proud that he was part of that solution," Hazeley said.
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Withrow alumni honored his work Saturday.
"I think we're still just kind of taking it all in," said Ki-Afi Ra Moyo, a member of the Withrow Class of '94. "I think we're all still overwhelmed by the position that God put him in."
"The universe is giving everything that JB puts out there back with the recognition, the accolades (and) the praise," said Wynn.
For someone who grew up playing football and dreamed of making it to the NFL, working on the sidelines was already the perfect job, but now it's even more.
"It's just a dream right now that I don't want to wake up from," Bush said.
