Jean Theard is miraculously still around despite being in full cardiac arrest a few months ago."Last thing I remember is coming out of the bathroom after chewing a few aspirins because I couldn't find my nitro. Came out of the bathroom, that was it, light's out," Theard said.Theard was happy to be surrounded by lifesavers at the Seminole County, Florida, fire station closest to his home.Seminole County’s Deputy Chief Matt Kinley was ready to give out some lifesaving awards.“We've got someone walking around that might not have been,” Kinley said.It was July and Theard's heart had stopped. His girlfriend got CPR coaching from 911 as rescuers rolled."Anything that could have gone right, went right,” Lt. Stephen Armstrong said.Station 26 got there in under five minutes and brought him back. But they needed to get his stopped heart going again on the way to the hospital."They get them to us. If they didn't get them to us, we couldn't do the magic that we do,” Linda Hardison of Orlando Health said.When Theard heard awards were being delivered to the crew which saved him, he said he had to be there in person."My girlfriend called, they responded and here I am,” Theard said.Certainly, as Theard slides into this year's Thanksgiving table, in the back of his mind, he'll be thinking about the importance of one of those fire rescue crews.“ is going to taste real good this year. I have a birthday coming up on Monday too,” Theard said.Plenty of reasons to celebrate."If it wasn't for them, like you say, Thanksgiving would be pretty dull without me around,” Theard said.Theard said he never misses a chance to thank a first responder.

CNN —

Eric Talley, the first police officer to arrive at the scene of the Boulder supermarket shooting last week, was the last of the gunman's 10 victims.

To honor his bravery, the nonprofit Tunnel to Towers Foundation, set up to support the families of fallen first responders and service members, announced Saturday it will pay off the mortgage on Talley's home.

Talley, 51, is survived by his wife and seven children.

The community came together to grieve him

Hundreds flooded the streets in the days after Talley's death, watching as a hearse transferred his body to an Aurora funeral home.

His patrol vehicle, parked in front of the police station, was adorned with flowers, cards and other tokens of grief and gratitude.

Talley was the first Boulder officer to be killed in the line of duty since 1994, and the sixth on-duty death in the department's history, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

His bravery was known to his friends and colleagues well before his death.

"Didn't surprise me he was the first one there," his father, Homer Talley, told CNN affiliate KUSA.

Talley had been a member of the Boulder police force since 2010.

He was aware of the danger he faced as a police officer. His father told KUSA he recently looked into becoming a drone operator because he thought it would be safer.

Police Chief Maris Herold said at a news conference that Talley was "willing to die to protect others" and embodied "everything policing deserves and needs."

Within 30 seconds of arriving at the King Soopers store, Talley led a team of officers inside to engage the shooter, the Boulder Police Department wrote in a tweet. After Talley, no one else was shot.

A non-profit for first responders is responding to Talley's death

The Tunnel to Towers Foundation was created in honor of New York firefighter Stephen Siller, who died responding to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

The organization builds mortgage-free smart homes for catastrophically injured veterans and first responders, and pays off the mortgages of first responders and military servicemembers who are killed in the line of duty and leave behind young children.

The foundation also provides mortgage-free homes to surviving military spouses with young children.

The nonprofit's mission to honor fallen first responders prompted the effort to pay Talley's mortgage.

"It's so important because Eric gave his life and left behind a wife and seven children, and for him to rush in and go toward ... the danger to save people is just incredible," foundation CEO Frank Siller, Stephen Siller's brother, told "Fox & Friends" on Saturday.