A team of Texas firefighters provided a little extra support for the grieving family of an Air Force veteran who suffered a fatal heart attack while mowing his lawn.
John McCormick, 65, collapsed at his Baytown home on Aug. 26 and died two days later. Members of Baytown Fire Department’s Station 4, who responded to the 911 call, later returned to the house to finish mowing the lawn.
“We’re all fighting over who can push the mower first,” Station 4 Lt. J.D. Giles told a local CBS affiliate.
“I just happened to get off the truck first and grabbed the lawnmower first. We were all fighting over it,” said firefighter Blake Steffenauer. “Yard work shouldn’t be something they’d have to finish up. So we were happy to come back and take care of that.”
The firefighters reportedly took turns behind Mr. McCormick’s lawn mower.
“We felt bad that your husband didn’t get to finish the yard,” they wrote in a letter to the man’s widow, Patsy, The Telegraph reported. “We are very sorry that your husband became ill. … Let us know if there is anything we can do to help you out.”
A photo of the letter went viral after a neighbor posted it on Facebook. The McCormick family is getting calls from as far away as New Zealand, CBS reported.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Mrs. McCormick said. “I just couldn’t believe they took the time to do that.”
Mr. McCormick’s daughter, Jeana Blackford, said the gesture “just shows just exactly how special [the firefighters] really are.”
“I think we all need to do random acts of kindness every day, every day,” she said.
Mr. McCormick, an Air Force veteran, was scheduled to be buried with full military honors this week at Houston National Cemetery.
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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