Jakob Perez, who suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during an agility demonstration in a training tower, can't wait to get back to the Allen Fire Department.
"He saw us through the glass as we were walking up, started waving at us. I think his first question to me was 'When can I come back?' 'When can I do some more?'" Fire Chief Jonathan Boyd told Fox4.
That exchange happened Sunday -- four days after the incident.
During an awards program for the Citizens' Fire Academy on May 9, Perez, 18, had climbed to the fourth level of the tower and started to lift a fire hose.
"I was here, and I happen to hear the hose fall on the ground. I look up, and I see JJ was on the ground," Boyd recalled.
The two paramedics next to him sprang into action and quickly realized this was something serious.
They performed life-saving measures, and Perez’s pulse came back by the time he was at the hospital.
"They performed all the advanced procedures on the stairwell to the tower. It’s just really amazing what they’re able to do in such a small space and such quick time," said Boyd.
Perez is still in critical condition in the ICU, but he's making big strides in his recovery.
Boyd said of JJ's ambition: "He was always excited to be here. Every day they had an activity, you know, he did practice putting out a car fire, practice tying knots, everything he did, he was just very excited and wanted to absorb as much as he could."
Since the incident, Chief Boyd and other members of the department visit Perez every day, and on Sunday, he was able to talk to them.
"He saw us through the glass as we were walking up, started waving at us. I think his first question to me was 'When can I come back?' 'When can I do some more?'" recalled Boyd.
"They are heroes, and they saved our hero," said Crystal Hall, Perez's sister.
