HUDSON — There was still a lot of work to be done when Gene Work felt the first signs of what he would later learn was a massive heart attack. 
 
 It was Saturday afternoon, in the hot, humid conditions of July. Work was trying to resod his yard before the homeowners association issued a large fine, according to a Facebook post by his wife, Melissa. 
 
 The final four palettes of sod arrived, then Gene Work began to feel ill. He went inside. Melissa Work said she knew something was wrong. 
 
 The 40-year-old husband collapsed onto the couch. His wife called 911. 
 
 In and out of consciousness, Melissa Work said her husband continued to worry about the grass. He had pawned his favorite gun to purchase the sod and if it wasn’t put down that day, it would all die. 
 
 "While he was having his heart attack, literally in and out of consciousness, he kept begging me to figure out the sod and have it put down because he didn’t want it to go to waste and die," the wife wrote on Facebook. "I calmed him and kept saying ‘Jesus will help us. It’s OK. Jesus will figure this out babe.’" 
 
 They didn’t want to get hit with the HOA fines, and 30-year-old Melissa Work — who needs a bone marrow transplant — had scheduled the painful and expensive procedure for next month. But she continued to reassure him that they would be all right, that it all would work out in the end. 
 
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 Pasco County Fire Rescue took Gene and Melissa Work to the hospital. Gene Work’s brother, Mark Rouco, stayed behind. He was now determined to say as long as needed to replant the sod. 
 
 "Mark knew how important it was to Gene," said Melissa Work said. 
 
 As Rouco was back at it when he saw the two emergency vehicles that had treated his brother returned to the house. Rouco thought they were coming back to check on him — instead, seven firefighters got out and said they were there to help with the grass. 
 
 They knew that the sod would soon die while Gene Work wouldn’t be able to do anything about it in the hospital. 
 
 Together, they laid out the new lawn in just one hour. 
 
 When Gene Work woke up in the hospital, his wife told him that the firefighters had helped save the sod. 
 
 "They don’t know what family they just helped," Melissa Work said. "Gene said we had to find them and thank them, we had to tell everyone about this kindness. 
 
 "I mean, they saved his life and then came back to save his grass. That’s just so awesome." 
 
 The wife’s timing was also awesome. Doctors later told her that if she had waited any longer to call for an ambulance her husband might not have made it. They told her that there he had a significant blockage. He underwent surgery and had stents inserted. 
 
 Gene Work is now home and recovering. 
 
 Now they have to get ready for the wife’s procedure next month. Despite their struggles, though, Melissa Work appreciate the help. 
 
 "On paper, we’ve been dealt a lot of difficulties," she said. "But we teach our kids to look for the positives, and that is what this was. That’s what we’re going to focus on, and that’s what we’re going to keep with us." 
 
 "These men didn’t do this for any attention, they didn’t know what family they were doing this for, but we feel that we should return that kindness and tell people. We’re hoping to find them and thank them in person, too." ||||| Three days after they saved his life in Pasco County, Florida, first responders had a surprising and emotional reunion with Gene Work and his family on Tuesday. 
 
 Work and his brother-in-law Mark Rouco were laying sod in Work’s front yard on Saturday when he suddenly suffered a heart attack. Responding to his wife Melissa Work’s 911 call, the six men rushed Work to the hospital where he was taken for emergency surgery just as his heart was about to stop. 
 
 On the way to the hospital, Work told the firefighters that he really needed to finish laying out the last four pellets of sod, which he was afraid might die in the July heat. 
 
 Work feared he would be heavily fined by the Home Owners Association, even pawning his favorite gun in order to buy the sod necessary to finish the lawn work. 
 
 After transporting Work to the hospital, the first responders went back to the home to help finish laying down the sod. 
 
 At a ceremony honoring the six responders, the family came to surprise and thank them. 
 
 “We are just out of words,” Gene Work said to the firefighters as his family hugged the men and his young daughter handed them a card. “I can’t believe you guys came back, it’s amazing!” 
 
 Mark Rouco 
 
 Work revealed to them that he started bawling when he saw pictures of the completed lawn after his surgery. 
 
 “I was just so thankful for the grass I didn’t even think about you guys saving my life,” he said, adding that the family had brought them a thank you lunch. 
 
 “It wasn’t like I survived a massive heart attack, it was like, my sod! They put my sod!” joked Melissa Work. “Next time maybe do flowers!” 
 
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 The incident became public after Melissa Work described it in a Facebook post, asking “PLEASE help us get these men honored! PLEASE help us find them so we can thank them.” 
 
 She added that at the time, the officers had no idea about the fine, nor her upcoming bone marrow transplant. 
 
 “They simply saw someone in need, something in need and did this for us. This wasn't in their job description,” she wrote. 
 
 “We put ourselves in your shoes,” said an officer, adding that they wanted the finished lawn to be a surprise when he returned from the hospital. 
 
 “It was on our minds…We saw what was laying out there,” fire fighter paramedic Tyler Romanowski told reporters. “We are [often] concerned about everything but ourselves… we will kill ourselves to save everything else. We can all relate.” 
 
 Mark Rouco 
 
 Melissa Work told reporters that she wanted to do more than just say thank you. 
 
 “We knew it’s such a beautiful story, we knew people would love it, we knew they would love them so this is what we were hoping and we are a little shocked,” she said. 
 
 “I just really wanted to meet them. [First] for me was my sod and then I also remembered they saved my life. We can’t repay them,” Gene Work told reporters adding that he got to the hospital just in time. 
 
 The six men will each receive certificates of commendation for their work. 
 
 “[I am] amazed at the lengths our crews go through to make sure their customer is taken care of,” Pasco County Fire Rescue Chief Scott Cassin said when congratulating the crew for their efforts. 
 
 Work also said that after seeing the viral Facebook post, the company from which he bought the sod refunded his money.
– It was a hot, humid day in Pasco County, Fla., on Saturday, and Gene Work was trying to beat the clock to lay down sod in his yard so he wouldn't face a fine from his homeowners association. But the 40-year-old, who was working with his brother-in-law Mark Rouco, soon wasn't feeling well—and it turned out he was having a heart attack, per ABC News. His wife, Melissa Work, called 911, and about a half-dozen firefighters arrived to rush Gene Work to the hospital. But while he was drifting in and out of consciousness, his wife says he could only focus on one thing. "He kept begging me to figure out the sod and have it put down because he didn't want it to go to waste and die," she writes in a Facebook post. "It's ALL he kept asking about literally during a massive heart attack. LOL." He relayed his same fears to the first responders on his way to the hospital, and they were obviously listening. Per the Tampa Bay Times, Rouco, who'd stayed behind in the yard to try to finish the job, suddenly saw the emergency vehicles that had just been there returning. Rouco thought they were coming to check on him, but they were there for a different reason: to help him put the rest of the sod down. All together, they got the job done in an hour. At a ceremony Tuesday honoring the first responders, Gene Work told them he cried when he was shown a picture of the finished sod job after his emergency surgery. "On paper, we've been dealt a lot of difficulties," Melissa Work, who will be receiving a bone marrow transplant next month, tells the Times. "But we teach our kids to look for the positives, and that is what this was." An extra gesture of kindness: After seeing Melissa Work's Facebook post, the sod company refunded all of the family's money. (California firefighters saved a dog, mouth to snout.)