Marine instinct helps coworker

Normally, one heading in for an early trip to the office can look forward only to the mundane: paperwork, burnt coffee and the haze of a dimly lit office.

Not so one morning, when Caltrans employee and Costa Mesa resident Francisco Paras Jr. heard screams coming down the hallway from his Los Angeles office at 5:30 a.m.

The desperate cries of “Help! Help! Help!” quickly reverted him to his Marine training, he said. He was on it.

Turning a corner, he found that his colleague Kris Andersen had fallen down some stairs, injuring her legs and breaking an ankle — not a catastrophic injury, though the alienating darkness and apparent lack of any passersby terrified her, Paras said.

“She told me she was afraid she was going to go into shock, and if I hadn’t come in time, she really might have,” he said. “The first thing I did say was, ‘Relax — there’s nothing wrong. How’s your Mom? How’s your Dad?’ It’s all about distracting them; getting their mind off the injury.”

Paras said he took charge of comforting Andersen, and quickly took charge of the situation — he directed one colleague to call security, and another to call 911. Within minutes, he said, an ambulance was taking Andersen to the hospital.

“I truly feel that I would have panicked and may have gone into shock, if Francisco had not been in that morning to rescue me from my fall,” Andersen said in a Caltrans newsletter honoring Paras. “I ended up with bruises and a broken ankle. I also have a great deal of gratitude for the ex-Marine that jumped into action to help a colleague.”

Andersen was not the only one to thank Paras — he was also invited by Assemblyman Van Tran to come to his office for an award ceremony and photograph last Friday.

“It was a nice gesture to recognize a state employee who went out of his way to help a fellow coworker who was in distress,” Tran said. “We try to identify and, of course, go out of our way to thank those who also went out of their way.

“Often, they are very happy to be recognized — although they aren’t looking for it, their gestures are worth noting and acknowledging.”

“I didn’t expect anything like this to happen!” Paras said. “I was just in the right place, at the right time.”

CHRIS CAESAR may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or at chris.caesar@latimes.com.