FDNY firefighter goes into cardiac arrest inside Lower Manhattan firehouse

LOWER MANHATTAN (WABC) -- It is the power of quick thinking -- and one that hits close to home for New York's Bravest. A firefighter suddenly went into cardiac arrest while on duty inside his own Lower Manhattan firehouse.

His fellow firefighters wasted no time and managed to keep him alive long enough to make it to the hospital.

Joseph Gallucci Jr., 43, now stands as the picture of health -- eternally grateful to his fellow first responders.

"My wife would be a widow, my children would not have a father," he said.

Just last month, the FDNY lieutenant was on the brink of death -- it was hard for even him to believe.

"I don't remember waking up," he says.

The firefighters who work with him at Engine Company 28 Ladder 11 will never forget. It is a moment seared into their memory when