Michael Penman

by Amy Lombardo
staff editor

Life's little defining moments can happen at anytime. Two weeks ago, Michael Penman left his house thinking he was just going to a concert. By the time he returned home that night, his thoughts had literally shifted to issues of life and death.

Penman is an UM-St. Louis junior computer science major, with minors in French philosophy and American ethics. He and his friend, Kelley Stevenson, were on their way to see Maxwell on Sept. 29. They planned to arrive late because they didn't want to see the opening act.

As they walked towards The Fox, they noticed a woman leaning over a parking meter. Immediately, Penman recognized that she was not feeling well.

"We were walking to her [saying], 'What's going on with this?'" Penman said. "She was wheezing pretty bad."

The two friends inquired if the lady was okay. She told them that she was going to get her asthma medicine and that they should go on in to the show because Maxwell was about to start.

"[Stevenson] responded, 'Look, I've got the CDs at home.' I told her, 'Maxwell's not our concern right now. You're our primary concern,'" Penman said.

He and Stevenson began to walk the lady to her car without even knowing where to go or asking her name. She had to stop before they found the vehicle. She told Penman that the medicine was at her home in North County.

"She thought that she could just go home and get her asthma medication and come back," Penman said.

Penman told her she would not be able to make it. He found a security guard and had 911 called. The guard asked the woman for her name, Marvelle Martin, and other information.

They waited outside in the rain comforting her for 10 to 15 minutes.

"It was raining and both Kelley and I ... were holding our umbrellas over [Martin] to make sure she stayed as dry as possible," Penman said. "We were getting wet, but we didn't seem to care."

Penman focused on keeping Martin's mind off of the attack. This tactic seemed to be working.

"Both of us had a hand on her and we were praying," Penman said. "I told her, 'Whatever you do, do me a favor, keep your mind on Jesus.'"

Finally, a fire truck arrived. At this point, Martin could barely speak, so when the men began asking questions Penman spoke for her. His good memory allowed him to recount her name, address and birth date. Stevenson, a graduate nurse, stopped the use of an oxygen tank because she knew that it would make an asthmatic feel claustrophobic.

Although the firemen suggested that Penman and Stevenson could go and enjoy the rest of the show, they stayed with her until the ambulance arrived. Before Martin was taken to the hospital, she asked Penman to take her ticket stub and give her car keys to her friends inside.

When they entered the building, the two began to realize what had just happened.

"We were kind of freaked out by it a little bit thinking that, 'Wow, if we had left her, she would have died,'" Penman said.

They found her companions sitting in the orchestra section.

"That's why I think she had a hard time because it was so hot down there [in the pit], she probably couldn't breathe," Penman said.

The next morning, Penman sent out a prayer to Martin on KMJM Majic radio station. Later that day, friends called him to tell him that the station was trying to get in touch with him. Through Majic, he was eventually reunited with Martin who had been looking for her good Samaritans she only knew as Mike and Kelley. Soon, everyone was talking about the incident. Despite the attention, Penman remains humble.

"I'm not a hero, I would have done it for anybody," Penman said. "It's just no big thing."