Jorge Ramirez Galdamez was close to death when he was shot in the abdomen while struggling with a suspect who was violently beating a woman; Allana Russell was leaving a fast-food restaurant when she heard a gunshot. She returned to the scene and helped a woman survive. Jonathan Leyva and his friend Kenneth Hwang saved the life of an elderly man after a woman set him on fire on the subway.

The four Samaritans received the "Courage Award" during a Rotary Club of Pasadena event, where Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Maria Ramirez presented the recognition scrolls.

"It's important that we have such brave people who risk their lives to help someone else," Ramirez told La Opinion. "This is especially valuable when you hear that people don't want to get involved when there are dangerous actions and they can save lives. We can't be everywhere."

Indeed, Ramirez Galdamez, Russell, Leyva, and Hwang also cooperated with law enforcement authorities to secure the conviction of the perpetrators of violent and criminal acts.

Fight for a Gun and for His Life

During the early morning of May 6, 2023, Jorge Ramirez Galdamez, a father of five and son of Salvadoran parents (Jorge and Martha Vilma Galdamez), nearly died saving the life of a woman who was being assaulted by a violent criminal who was on parole.

After the celebration of the May 5th festivities, Jorge, a creator of artistic events and hired by the owners of the restaurant "El Compadre," located in the 7400 block of Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, was packing up his equipment with a partner.

“It was 2:00 a.m. and two cars pulled up. We were behind the restaurant, in an alley,” he said. “It was dark, and it seemed like they were having a confrontation,” he recalled.

Jorge didn’t know what was happening, but he did hear a lot of screaming.

At one point, he noticed a couple of girls inside a vehicle calling for help to get someone out. They didn’t know the man.

“I hesitated a little because I didn’t want to get involved,” he recalled. “I knew people were drunk. I was tired. I had worked a 21-hour shift and only slept three hours.”

Jorge stated that “things got ugly,” and as he walked toward the scene of the commotion, he saw a man jump out and begin brutally beating one of the women.

“I ran to help her and tried to tell the guy to stop. I didn’t want to add to the violence. I just wanted it all to be over so I could go back to work, for the police to arrive and take care of it,” he said.

But it didn’t happen.

Jorge struggled to restrain the man who had almost killed the girl.

He pulled out a gun.

“We fought over the gun…at that moment, honestly, I was afraid for my life. I heard a gunshot and thought, ‘Oh my God, it’s all over for me.’

The bullet lodged in Jorge’s abdomen, and he fell to the ground.

“The guy was yelling absurd things. And while I was on the ground, you know, they say that life flashes before your eyes. The reality is, I thought I was going to die at that moment, because I fell to the ground. He had the gun. I thought he was going to shoot again,” he recounted. “And I said to myself, ‘It’s over. I never accomplished anything.’

Luckily, a friend and business partner tried to stop the man. He wrestled with him over the gun, and the man was never able to fire another shot. He fled.

Jorge doesn’t remember anything else. He only remembers that he was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he recovered and lived to tell the tale.

Regarding the recognition of his bravery, he simply states: “It’s like a small, positive reward. I feel honored.”

Would you do it again…would you intervene again in a similar situation?

“That’s a difficult question. I’ve been asked that question many times. Yes, I would. I almost lost my life helping a stranger, and I think that’s what this world needs, a little more kindness between us, especially when we’re so divided.”

He states this convincingly, because he says that was what his parents taught him.

“I grew up with four sisters, and my father would tell me, ‘Protect them,’ and my mother, who is the sweetest woman in the world, was in a way the motivation to help that poor woman.”

His wife, Delores McKinniss, praised that her husband “has always fought for the lives of others, even knowing that he could die.”

“I only know that if something serious had happened to him, I would have had to fight alone in life for our five children,” she emphasized. “I know my husband, and when I found out he was injured, I felt like I was going to live. I wasn’t afraid. And I know he would do it for his five children.”

Associate Prosecutor Michel Belcher handled the criminal case.in which the suspect, Vardges Petrosyan, now 30, was convicted on July 14 of assault with a firearm, possession of a firearm by a felon, and possession of ammunition by a felon, and faces up to 30 years in state prison.

Young Woman Saves Another's Life

On April 13, 2021, Alanna Russell witnessed a shooting and provided critical assistance to an injured woman.

David Ray Mesa, 50, shot his ex-girlfriend outside a fast food restaurant in the city of Azusa.

“I just wanted to buy a coffee and a couple of donuts,” the heroine of the story told La Opinion. “As I was leaving the parking lot, I heard a gunshot. I saw a couple arguing outside a car. I heard the gunshot, the car drove off. She fell, and I went back to assess the scene and then testified.”

She turned her car around and returned to the scene. The woman was sitting on the sidewalk. She had been shot in the neck.

“Distraught, I asked for a family member to be called, and someone called 911 for me,” she recalled.

Allana, now 22, a physician assistant student, didn’t want to touch the wound, just in case the bullet hadn’t completely passed through the woman’s neck.

“Sometimes they are gunshot wounds that, if they don’t bleed a lot, you don’t have to apply pressure because they swell like a balloon inside and become a problem,” she explained. “The swelling was in her neck because she was experiencing internal bleeding.”

They waited for the police and an ambulance to arrive and took the victim to a hospital.

“After that, I was in shock for a while,” the girl said. “I wasn’t necessarily scared, but more so I was upset that I didn’t know how to handle the situation properly.”

Alanna doesn’t consider herself special, despite having been recognized for her bravery.

“I think there are certain people who would have done what I did in any situation. I understand that sometimes it can be scary or not knowing what to do in a certain situation, but I think the most important thing is just being there. Her family has thanked me, and I can’t imagine what it would be like if someone in my family had gone through that,” she said.

“Knowing that I was able to help, even a little, was very meaningful to me and my family, because being in the health care field, all I want is to help people. I just know that it was simply a good deed that I can look back on and be proud of. So, in whatever way I helped, I am forever grateful to know that she is alive and well to this day,” she added.

That victim was left paraplegic for the rest of her life.

Despite feeling intimidated and receiving threats from the shooter’s family, Alanna testified in court against David Ray Mesa, who was convicted of attempted murder and battery on a spouse or ex-girlfriend and is serving a 29-to-life state prison sentence for the attack, which left the victim paralyzed, according to Prosecutor Brendan Gibson.