Firefighters go beyond the call to perform 'random act of kindness'

A group of firefighters from Texas went beyond the call of duty when they fought to save a man's life before returning to his house and mowing his lawn.

John McCormick had a history of heart problems and as he pushed his mower around his yard on Tuesday he suffered a heart attack.

The 65-year-old air force veteran made his way inside where he collapsed and his family called emergency services, KHOU reports.

Fire crews and an ambulance arrived at the scene, with the paramedics managing to revive Mr McCormick as they transported him to hospital with the fire engine following, according to operating procedure.

But when the fire engine arrived back at the station, the crew decided they were not finished with Mr McCormick.

They decided they would go back to his home and finish the job he had started – and a photograph of their generosity quickly spread around the world.

"We're all fighting over who can push the mower first," Station Lieutenant JD Giles told the news station.

"I just happened to get off the truck first and grabbed the lawnmower first. We were all fighting over it," said firefighter Blake Steffenauer.

The crew took turns mowing the front lawn, then the back, before locking up the garage and leaving a note that read: "We felt bad that your husband didn't get to finish the yard, so we did."

The crew didn't think too much of what they did until Mr McCormick's daughter Jenna Blackford returned and was moved to tears by what she found.

"It just showed me that there's still compassion," Ms Blackford said with praise for all the "random acts of kindness" unknown strangers perform every day.

Despite the warmth and generosity shown to the McCormicks, John died in hospital two days later.

But a neighbour who saw the firefighters at work in the garden took some snaps while they weren't looking and posted them to a City of Baytown Facebook page which brought the firies heaps of praise.

"How amazing!! So glad to see there are still kind hearted people in this world!" wrote Tiffany Shaffer.

Source: KHOU
Author: Nicholas McCallum, Approving editor: Kieran Campbell