A young man training to become a firefighter put his skills to the test to help save a homeless man's life, and the two were emotional as they reunited Tuesday.
Keenan Smith, 26, jumped into action when he saw a man collapse Jan. 20 on the streets of Los Angeles.
"I rushed over there and he's blue, and I'm like, 'Is anybody going to help?'" said Smith, who is on track on to become a firefighter. Smith is also a football player and said he may try out for the Los Angeles Rams.
What he encountered wasn't an exercise: It was real life. It was also the first time he's performed CPR.
"I just kept going until signs of life were there," Smith said.
Cody, a homeless man who lives in an Exposition Park encampment, had collapsed from a drug overdose and hit his head on the pavement.
They would later learn he was minutes from death.
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"I definitely take it as a second chance," Cody said.
Cody said he wanted to meet the man who saved his life and express his gratitude in a handwritten note.
"I've never been as scared as I was that day," he recalled.
Smith's mother captured the moment of their reunion on cellphone video. The two men clasped hands and embraced.
"I believe he is an angel and I believe God did send him," said Lavette Smith. "He didn't look at the man as an addict. He looked at him like he was a man who needed to be saved."
Cody said he considers the brush with death a second chance.
"I have been making some bad mistakes, as we all do," Cody said. "I think I'm in the lead for bad mistake making!"
The Smith family plans to continue helping Cody by giving him clothes, food and whatever he needs to get back on track.
"Saving a life like that, it's amazing. It was an amazing feeling," Keenan Smith said.
