City of Miami firefighters, police officers honored for saving one of their own
MIAMI - A group of City of Miami firefighters and police officers were honored Wednesday for saving one of their own. For them, saving another first responder is a deeper honor than they ever imagined.
"I don't remember exactly what happened. I'm going off of what somebody else told me, but I was running past station four is the last thing that I remember," said 23-year-old Reece Blake.
Reece, a Miami firefighter, almost lost his life during a SWAT medic training two months ago.
"He was actually next to me running and I thought he just got a cramp. He fell to the ground and I thought, you know, guys go down all the time. We thought he got a cramp," said fellow firefighter Victor Cobian.
But it wasn't a cramp. Reece collapsed and went into cardiac arrest.
Quickly realizing what happened, a group of seven Miami police officers and seven firefighters jumped into action.
"Thank god, we had all of our equipment with us. We knew what heart rhythm he was in and we shocked him right away and we did what we were trying to do," said Cobian.
Reece woke up in the hospital two days later but he was alive.
"When it went down, we got there and it was just work mode. Work mode, working and doing what we do and then it was a couple of us once we got a pulse back and we actually dropped him off at the hospital and we they were still doing what they were doing. That's when the wave of emotion hit us all," said Cobian.
The group of heroes honored for saving his life.
The real reward they say is having one of their own back and doing well.
"When we actually saw him, it was an amazing feeling," said Cobian.
Reece's family agrees.
"The fact they didn't stumble, they weren't emotionally overwhelmed. It was just that they had a job to do and my son is alive because of it," said Reece's father Paul.
For Reece, a bond even deeper than before.
"So much gratitude I can't even begin to explain it how much deeper bond than I ever had with them," he said.
Reece's parents and the fire department the stress the importance of CPR.
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