california, is a mountain paradise. gorgeous skiing and loads of snowmobilers. after skiing down the slopes one morning, chuck stopped in at the local snowmobile center and while he was inside, all of a sudden he fell down. >> you could draw a line down the center of my body and everything was disconnected on the right-hand side. >> reporter: chuck had a massive stroke in the middle of nowhere. bear valley nurse kathy snyder raced chuck to the edge of town to wait for a helicopter ambulance. >> i just remember the rotors turning and the snow flying. and just waiting to go. >> reporter: time is of the essence and this helicopter doesn't move. why were precious minutes being wasted? the flight nurse wanted to take chuck to the nearest hospital, which was a small hospital. >> he had a cardiac problem. he had a stroke problem. he needed to go to a hospital where there were specialists standing by. and these small hospitals don't offer that. >> reporter: you argued hard. >> i did argue hide.