CINCINNATI —

Jerry Mills is a die-hard Bengals fan.

Ed Fernandes cheers for the Raiders.

Before Saturday, the two were strangers. Now, they share a special bond.

"I believe God put me there for a reason so that man could have another day of living," Mills said.

Mills had just wrapped up an afternoon of tailgating.

He was on his way in to Paul Brown Stadium when he saw a Raiders fan on the ground. People in the crowd thought he was having a seizure.

"I look at him and, "I'm like, 'that doesn't look like a seizure activity.' I look for a pulse, he didn't have a pulse, and I was like, 'I'm going to start CPR right now,'" Mills said.

Mills, who is from Cincinnati and a former Covington firefighter, currently works as an emergency room nurse in Dallas.

"Being a nurse for the past three years, I've always told everybody I work with, 'Look, we're not losing nobody on my shift,'" Mills said.

That's how he felt outside PBS Saturday.

"I'm sitting there telling him, 'I'm not losing you today.' And so, the other nurse was helping and two minutes later, he got a pulse," Mills said.

But then Mills said he lost it again. Mills said the other nurse who jumped in to help also acted selflessly.

"She took the guy's shirt, put it across his face and started to breathe into his mouth," Mills said.

The two nurses continued to do what they had to to keep the Raiders fan alive until Cincinnati firefighters arrived.

On Tuesday, Mills learned the name of the man he saved, Ed Fernandes of Dayton, who had planned on attending the game with his grandson, Noah.

Noah told WLWT that his grandfather is still at UC Medical Center with blockages in his heart. He is scheduled to have surgery Thursday. Fernandes' family said they can't put into words how grateful they are for Mills.

CINCINNATI —

A major effort is underway to protect Cincinnati's firefighters against COVID-19.

Hundreds have gotten the Moderna shot between Monday and Tuesday.

Officials said the work continues Wednesday to make sure firefighters are healthy and ready to keep everyone safe.

Some of them said the pandemic has impacted how they train, while others said a vaccine empowers them to be ready for any emergency.

They also want to protect each other while protecting the community they serve.

"We have to get a handle on this virus, and the only way to get that immunity is to get the shot," Assistant Fire Chief Tom Lakamp said.

Lakamp said he considers getting the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine his duty.

He shared his thoughts in a video provided by Cincinnati Fire Department officials.

"The way we're going to get there faster is the more people that will take this vaccine," he said.

Lakamp said he's had no side effects.

Cincinnati Fire Chief Roy Winston said he got his first shot on Dec. 23.

"Had a little soreness in the injection site, if you just pushed on it, but other than that, that probably went away after a couple of hours that morning," he said.

The efforts are expanding quickly.

Fire officials said 135 members of the department got a first dose of the Moderna shot on Monday, and at least 120 more got their first dose on Tuesday.

"Those that have been very close to that research, myself included, are comfortable that it's not much different than a flu vaccine," Assistant Chief Sherman Smith said.

Emergency calls haven't stopped during the pandemic, which means constant contact for first responders.

Assistant Chief Steve Breitfelder counted only 22 positive cases from March to October.

Then, he said, cases surged.

"In the month of October alone, we doubled that with 23 positive cases. November we had 72 and for December, we've had, I believe we're at 73 right now," Breitfelder said.

These firefighters said a vaccine keeps them healthy and ready to help you during the pandemic.

There's a hope that everyone will help them, too.

"We still need to be vigilant. We still need to maintain our social distancing. We still need to wear our masks," Lakamp said.

One of the big hurdles officials said they face is that when someone tests positive, they're in isolation for 10 days.

It's proven to be a tough blow to staffing, as officials said at one point, they had as many as 35 people out in quarantine.

They hope this vaccine will end that.

Cincinnati fire officials said the city's health department is handling distribution and helping to maintain records.

Meanwhile, firefighter-paramedics are administering the shots at one location.

They hope to have this first round of vaccinations completed by the end of the week and boosters in a few weeks.

When firefighters are called upon to face dangerous wildfires, they sacrifice everything for the good of others. It is with that in mind that Woody Faircloth moved to start his own nonprofit, EmergencyRV.org.

"A lot of people have RVs, but they just have them in storage and don’t use them as much as they use to, so if you donate them to our nonprofit, we can give you the full appraised value as a tax deduction," said Faircloth.

Over the years, he’s donated 90 RVs and trailers to firefighters.

"Some of these firefighters we helped just last year, they drove by their homes as they were being engulfed in flames because they were evacuating the town," said Faircloth.

Come Friday, and he’ll be on the road to the Dixie Fire in California to deliver an RV and a trailer.

"We got called two days ago from the California Fire Foundation, and they told us that, 'Hey, we’ve got 10 firefighters who lost their homes, and we really could use your help,'" said Faircloth.

Some of the firefighters still don’t know they lost their homes. Making it even more meaningful when Faircloth provides a place for them to take shelter.

"Some of those firefighters have young families, and they don’t have anywhere to go. They’ve lost everything they own, and we want to give them a place to call home until they can get up on their feet again," said Faircloth.

It’s a need Faircloth only sees increasing as wildfires continue to destroy so much and leave by behind little to nothing.

"We still have a home to come home to. We’re still blessed with everything we have, and there is no adversity," said Faircloth.

A small act of kindness that could mean a world of a difference to a firefighter in need.

Ivan Rodriguez at KMGH first reported this story.

An Oklahoma firefighter is making what hospital officials call a “remarkable” recovery after surviving COVID-19 and receiving a double lung transplant at a hospital in Arizona.

According to Dignity Health St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Capt. Randy Blake with the Stillwater Fire Department was first admitted to a hospital in his hometown after contracting COVID-19 in October. He was later taken to the Oklahoma Heart Institute in Tulsa.

“You guys saved my life,” Blake said to the health care workers who helped him. “I’m forever grateful. I mean that from the bottom of my heart.”

Hospital officials said that before being diagnosed with COVID-19, Blake, the father of four, had no preexisting conditions, was in excellent physical shape and made it a point to take good care of himself.

Blake eventually had to be placed on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation for more than a month, officials said. He also had a tracheotomy and underwent several procedures to treat blood clots that had formed as a result of the infection.

Essentially an artificial lung that oxygenates the blood, ECMO can be used to help support patients while their lungs recover, hospital officials said. Although it is not always a treatment option, ECMO can help some patients recover from severe pneumonia caused by COVID-19.

Although Blake was able to improve and come off of ECMO in December, COVID-19 caused severe and irreversible lung injury, and hospital officials said he required a lung transplant to survive.

Blake said that one of his physicians suggested that he would be a good candidate for a double lung transplant and called someone he knew in Arizona.

“Before I knew it, I was on a medical transport plane to St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute in Phoenix. The team at St. Joseph’s worked so quickly, so diligently and with such compassion that not long after I arrived at St. Joseph’s in January, I had a new pair of donor lungs,” Blake said.

Being hospitalized for nearly four months, Blake lost 55 pounds of muscle and spent two weeks in St. Joseph’s Barrow Neurological Institute Neuro-Rehabilitation Center to retrain his muscles and relearn what most would consider basic tasks, according to hospital officials.

“Randy is doing wonderfully, and we couldn’t be happier that he’s ready to go home. He is no longer on oxygen and is working hard in physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy,” said Sofya Tokman, MD, Blake’s pulmonologist at St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute. “In fact, just a few days before his discharge, I saw him walking and lifting weights.”

Blake said he hopes his story will inspire other individuals and families who are facing similar situations. He was discharged from the rehab unit on Friday.

St. Joseph’s Norton Thoracic Institute was the third lung transplant program in the country to perform a lung transplant as a result of lung damage from COVID-19, and Blake’s case is Norton’s fourth post-COVID-19 lung transplant, according to officials.

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. — A firefighter vacationing on a northern Michigan island jumped into action when a fire broke out on Sunday evening.

According to a Facebook post by the South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority, the unnamed firefighter didn't hesitate to lend a helping hand when a house on Mackinac Island caught fire on Memorial Day weekend.

According to the department's Facebook post, the firefighter assisted by manning a hose line until more help could arrive.

The department added that the firefighter later hooked up the hydrant for the aerial stick so officials on the scene could get the fire under control.

"As always even when we are away from our area we are still there. Good job brother!!" the department wrote in its Facebook post.

According to MLive, the fire occurred at the historic Brigadoon Cottage, a Victorian-era private home on the island. While the building was damaged, no one was injured and adjoining homes were not damaged. The fire is not considered suspicious.

South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority

South Kalamazoo County Fire Authority

This story was originally published by Karie Herringa on Scripps station WXMI in Grand Rapids, Michigan.