Hero EMT Mows Patient's Lawn, As If Saving His Life Weren't Enough

Does he do windows as well?

An emergency medical technician in Lincoln, California, not only helped save the life of an 87-year-old man, he prevented the man's lawn from looking shabby.

The man, who has asked to not be identified, passed out Saturday while doing yard work, according to his son, Ken Densley.

"Dad's had problems feeling faint in the past," Densley told HuffPost.

Neighbors who witnessed the incident notified his wife and called for an ambulance, Densley said.

"I live close by -- about five minutes away -- and when I got there, the ambulance was there and my dad was hooked up to an EKG and they were monitoring his vitals," Densley said. "They also encouraged him to go to the hospital, but he refused further treatment."

Densley and his family took Dad inside the house, sat him down and attempted to convince him to go to the hospital.

"Suddenly, I heard the lawnmower," he said.

One of the EMTs -- later identified as Chris Spires -- was mowing the lawn.

"I went out and said, 'You don't have to do this,' but he said, 'I checked with dispatch and we don't have any pressing calls.'"

Spires told Densley his partner was putting away the gurney and said it was "a one-man job."

"He basically suggested I'd have to do something like punch him to get him to stop," Densley laughed. "Then he asked where to put the lawnmower when he was done."

Densley posted a photo of Spires mowing the lawn and it has since gone viral, receiving more than 10,000 likes.

Spires didn't want to be identified, telling Densley that he just wanted to do something nice. However, his employer, American Medical Response, ratted him out to HuffPost.

Spires did not respond to HuffPost inquiries, but his LinkedIn page describes his goals like this:

"Provide efficient, life safe care to ill, and injured people throughout the community, while working in tandem with other local emergency service personnel to achieve the best possible outcome for our patients."

It doesn't say anything about lawns, though.

As for Densley's dad?

"We did convince him to be looked at," Densley said. "My niece -- his granddaughter -- is an anesthesiologist and respiratory specialist and she determined he wasn't getting sufficient oxygen when he was pushing the lawnmower and that caused him to faint."

There is good news, though. Densley thinks he's convinced the old man to let others do the main lawn work while he putters around.