Firefighters in Florida helped save the life of a man who was having a heart attack – and then finished laying down grass sod in his garden so he did not get into trouble.

Gene Work had been installing the grass palettes in his garden, anxious to get it done quickly for fear of a fine from the homeowners association, when his heart attack began, according to his wife who shared the story on Facebook.

Melissa Ann Work said the grass had been his “biggest stress” as if he didn’t get it done in time, he thought he could be charged – he was working on getting the final four palettes down when the heart attack began.

“He kept begging me to figure out the sod and have it put down because he didn't want it to go to waste and die,” she wrote, “It's ALL he kept asking about literally during a massive heart attack.”

Emergency services arrived and took Mr Work to hospital, while Ms Work’s brother-in-law stayed behind to finish off the yard work alone, desperately trying to get it finished for him by midnight that day.

Ms Work wrote: “As he was laying it, he heard huge trucks driving back down the road. He turned around and saw the fire truck and ambulance had come back.

“Before he knows it, seven firefighters and EMT's jumped out, put on gloves and said they came back because they knew Gene was in serious trouble and they wanted to lay the new sod so it didn't die. They knew he wouldn't be able to do any work for weeks so they came back.”

“They came back!!! They saved his life, dropped him off and then cared enough to save our GRASS!!”

Ms Work, who said she was left speechless by the firefighters’ kindness, has been urging people on social media to share their story, desperate to have them “honoured”.

A selection of photos she posted online show the firefighters carrying squares of grass into the yard and laying it down.

People on social media have praised their work, some even calling them “heroes”.

Ms Work detailed some of the other struggles they had been through as a family, and said the firefighters had decided to help without knowing any of this.

“They simply saw someone in need, something in need and did this for us. This wasn't in their job description,” she wrote.

“We have no words. Just sobbing.”

The Pasco County Fire Rescue service shared the post on their own Facebook page, and wrote: “We believe in helping the community whenever we are needed, and recently the crew from Station 10 (A-Shift) did exactly that.