Firefighters' act of kindness goes viral

It was a normal call for the men of station 4 in Baytown. At a house one mile away 65-year-old John McCormack collapsed while mowing his frontyard. He had a history of hard trouble; This time his heart stopped. The firefighters and the EMTs [emergency medical technician] revived him and followed the ambulance to the hospital. But then engine driver Luke Bednarek had an idea. So they drove back to the house. "We were all fighting over who can push the mower first." And that's when a neighbor secretly took this picture: Firefighter Blake Steffenauer finishing the frontyard. "I just happened to get off the truck first and grabbed the lawnmower first. We were all fighting over it." They took turns. They did the backyard, too, locked the garage and put the padlock key in the mailbox and left this handwritten note that said, "We felt bad that your husband didn't get to finish the yard, so we did." And they didn't think it was that big a deal. "No, not at all. Just something that helps someone out in the worst time of their life." But it was a letter, and a gesture, that made her daughter weep. "People still do random acts of kindness every day for people that they don't know." This story does not have a happy ending. John McCormack died two days later. But his family thanked the firefighters for giving them those 2 days to say goodbye and for restoring their faith in people. "I just couldn't believe they took the time to do that." with a simple random act of kindness. The picture of that random act posted to the City of Baytown facebook page is already going viral. The McCormack family is getting calls from as far away as New Zealand and they are thankful a neighbor took it. "This just shows just exactly how special they really are." So they can say Thank you to the firefighters and show the rest of us what kindness looks like. "Thank you, we love you, we appreciate you." And show that going above and beyond the call of duty often just takes a few more steps.