MONTEGO BAY, St James — When firefighter Mickhail Smith helped a basketball player who was having a medical emergency during a game on Sunday, he thought nothing of it. For him, it was all in a day’s work. But now the story has gone viral and he’s being hailed a hero.

“Even when I came to work on Monday, I didn’t mention it to anybody. It was in the evening now, when I was home, I saw the post and then people started sending it to me,” Smith told the Jamaica Observer.

“I never expected this. Honestly, it is very overwhelming because I just look at it that I’m glad that he is alright; but persons see it and said it could have been worse,” he added.

Security officer Wayne Lawrence was playing for his team, All Tours, during the Arise Basketball League game at Montego Bay Cricket Club when he fell hard. He began to have seizure-like movements and that is when Smith intervened and provided first aid.

“Honestly, I’m very grateful for the fact that he came to my rescue. To be fair, no one knew what to do but he is familiar with that type of stuff and I mean he rushed to it — even though I wasn’t aware, that’s what they said,” Lawrence told the Observer on Wednesday.

“I told him I wasn’t aware of what was going on but I thanked him regardless,” he added.

Spectators at the game said Lawrence went for a rebound, there was contact with another player, Lawrence fell and hit his head, then the convulsions began. Others panicked but Smith did not.

“I rushed to him and the first thing I did was check his pulse; then he started having the fit again. After checking the pulse, I realised that he was having difficulty breathing,” said the firefighter.

He said he then utilised a few first aid techniques to make the young man more comfortable and hopefully improve his condition.

“I then placed him in the recovery position and then I tried to open his airway because his tongue did look a way. I held his chest because he was having difficulty breathing and his heart was beating at a rapid rate,” Smith stated.

He said soon after that he began to see improvement in Lawrence’s condition.

“I was talking to him and the breathing was improving and I was asking him to nod if he was understanding me. A little after, he nodded. That is when I knew he was hearing me but the pain was unbearable,” he explained.

“He eventually improved on the breathing, opened his eyes and was nodding his head constantly when I asked questions,” Smith said.

Despite these positive signs, he wanted to get the young man to the hospital.

“I sat him up and he started to come around and I began questioning him, like about the date, and he started to answer. When I realised that, I sent for a chair and so we lift him, put him in the chair and then did a chair lift to carry him off the court to the vehicle and then to the hospital,” he said.

Onlookers lauded Smith for the way he held his composure during the medical emergency.

“I didn’t really panic because once I realised he had a pulse and he was fighting to breathe, [I knew] it wasn’t as serious as I was thinking,” he explained.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade, where Smith is also a driver, regularly provides training which keeps him up to date with the latest first aid techniques.

“Recently, we did an exam so I’m kinda fresh where certain things are concerned. We did extensive training where first aid is concerned so that was fresh in the mind, so that helped,” he said.

Now, the 20-year-old Lawrence is awaiting results of a brain scan and tests on his heart to understand what happened to him on the basketball court.

“I’m doing alright, back at work now. Very much grateful that I’m still here to pursue my dream of becoming a police officer,” he said.

“It’s like a second chance at living. I felt like I died then came back to life, in a sense,” Lawrence added.

The story of his rescue went viral after a witness took to TikTok to laud the firefighter’s efforts and called for others to recognise the significance of what he did. Smith is nevertheless a bit puzzled by it all.

“I wouldn’t consider myself a hero because I was trained to do that; that’s part of my job. The job already is a hero-type job,” he told the Observer.

“I’m just glad that I’m properly trained in that area and I feel that more persons should be — because it can be your family, it can be your friend. I’m really glad that I was there,” he added.

Both men met up on Wednesday and bonded while discussing Sunday’s incident and their shared love of basketball.

Firefighter Mickhail Smith, on the job.

Security officer Wayne Lawrence on the basketball court.