Is there anything emergency responders can’t do?
Gene Work was in his yard, laying down grass sod on Saturday afternoon, when he began to have a heart attack. As you’d expect, medics arrived at the scene and took Gene to the hospital, along with his wife, Melissa.
But what those emergency responders did later was far removed from their job descriptions. While the Works were at the hospital, the firefighters and medics went back to their home to finish his yard work! Melissa shared the heartwarming story in a Facebook post on Sunday.
Gene, who is 40 years old and lives in the Tampa, Florida area, was rushing to install grass palettes by Saturday evening in order to avoid getting hit with a fine from his homeowner’s association. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the couple wasn’t going to be able to afford the fine, in addition to an expensive bone marrow transplant that Melissa is undergoing in August.
“While he was having his heart attack, literally in and out of consciousness, he kept begging me to figure out the sod and have it put down because he didn’t want it to go to waste and die,” Melissa wrote on Facebook. “It’s ALL he kept asking about literally during a massive heart attack.”
Gene’s brother, who’d been working alongside him, stayed behind and continued to lay down the sod alone. But the emergency responders returned to help finish the job without even knowing the part about the impending fine.
Pasco County Fire Rescue confirmed its employees’ good deed on its Facebook page, wishing Gene “a speedy recovery.”
Melissa’s Facebook post quickly went viral, receiving more than 90,000 likes and 68,000 shares in the first four days since it went up. The response on social media was also overwhelming, with many users calling the situation an incredible act of kindness.
One Facebook commenter was blown away by the good dead, writing, “OMG! Sometimes people really can be wonderful. I’m so happy for y’all! Amazing people.”
As the saying goes: Not all heroes wear capes.