COLUMBUS, Neb. —

Friday marks the 15th annual Heroes Game between Nebraska and Iowa.

Each year, both schools choose a person to represent the state as its very own hero.

Nebraska's homegrown hero is a 16-year-old from Columbus.

Ashley de la Cruz Martin was walking into Pawnee Plunge Water Park when she saw an unresponsive man, Chuck Putnam, on the ground in the parking lot.

"I found out that he fell on the floor, hit his head and was unconscious," she said.

After checking his pulse and breathing, she noticed he was gasping for air and had a very low pulse.

"So then I was like, OK, then we're just going to start with CPR," she said.

Putnam had gone into cardiac arrest, and de la Cruz Martin performed CPR on him until first responders arrived.

"If she didn't perform CPR until the pa

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