APRIL 24, 2026 — On March 1, 2026, Specialist Faraz Farooqui, a Combat Medic with 1st Battalion 38th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, helped save a life during a medical emergency at the top of the Manitou incline during his first weekend in Colorado.
Spc. Farooqui, a 68W Combat Medic, applied medical training in a real-world emergency only two days after arriving to Fort Carson from Advanced Technical Training in Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio. This speaks largely to the readiness and fearlessness of US Army Soldiers. Competently trained and always willing to act without hesitation both on and off duty.
Upon arriving at the top of the Incline, Spc. Farooqui briefly celebrated with other Manitou summiteers after taking on the towering challenge.
Most hikers were busy taking pictures of the breathtaking panoramic views that the 2,000-foot elevated hiking trail provides.
As Faraz sat to take in the natural beauty and catch his breath before his descent, he identified something very out of place.
“I looked to my right, and a man was laying on the ground with someone standing over top of him, and it didn’t look right. I had to go check on him,” he said. It didn’t take more than a moment for Spc. Farooqui to realize that this hiker wasn’t resting, he was having a life-threatening medical episode and in need of immediate transport.
Spc. Farooqui immediately took action, recognizing that every second counts in a medical emergency. Wasting no time at all he reverted to the training he recently received at Fort Sam Houston. Jumping into action he started taking vitals, monitoring breathing, and relayed his location and all pertinent information to Emergency Medical Services (EMS). “For me it was second nature—it just flowed. I was able to get him to the helicopter transport site nearby and with the help of other hikers I rallied to assist in saving this man’s life.”
The effort doesn’t end there, however. Faraz not only coordinated the extraction by EMS, he also organized members of the crowd to help him carry the individual a quarter of a mile up the mountain to an El Paso County Search and Rescue jeep.
Once in the jeep, Farooqui helped Search and Rescue members to set up a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter “PICC Line IV” for the individual while moving to the extraction point on the trail for air evacuation.
UCHealth Lifeline aerial support arrived shortly after, and the individual was airlifted to a nearby hospital for further critical care. He had Suffered a major heart attack and is now recovering and attending rehabilitation appointments regularly.
The Family expressed deep gratitude and stated that they don’t know what they would have done without Spc. Farooqui’s timely intervention. “Thank God Faraz was there. I had my full trust in his training and education as an Army Soldier. If Spc. Farooqui wasn’t there, my father-in-law would not have survived.”
Story by Spc. Keaton Gray
1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division