The Platt family in the San Fernando Valley has a lot to be grateful for this holiday season, after its robust 79-year-old patriarch, Dennis Platt, was severely injured in July 2021 when a motorist ran a red light and t-boned his truck in West Hills, leaving him unresponsive after he crawled from the wreckage.
Platt’s truck was struck so hard as he drove to a store to buy paint that his dog was thrown out of an open window. Had it not been for 17-year-old Los Angeles City Fire Department cadet Leo Kaufman, who found Platt laying on the curb and administered CPR, Platt would not have celebrated Thanksgiving on Thursday with his family.
Their guest of honor at dinner last week was the teen who they’ve “adopted” and refer to as their angel.
“What I’m grateful for is that my youngest daughter and my wife have stepped up to the plate to take care of me, because this has been tough,” said Platt, a Bell Canyon resident.