Everett firefighter Steve Goforth rushes to replace a dying battery in the machine hooked to his heart. Goforth has an enlarged heart and no heartbeat. The device, which prompts his kids to call him the Bionic Man, does the work and pumps the blood for his bad heart.

Goforth finds it strange that as a paramedic he's used to checking peoples' pules and doesn't have one himself. In January, the once healthy 37-year-old discovered he had congestive heart failure and needs a heart transplant. He was unusually tired and one day went for a run and started coughing up blood.

His wife, Julie Goforth, says the two things she worries about most are that Steve won't be around to see their two young boys grow up and won't be able to return to work and do what he loves.

Everett firefighters are showing their support by wearing Goforth's training number on their helmets, offering their vacation time for his sick bank, and signing up for shifts to stay by his side because his medical condition requires 24-hour supervision.

Goforth says it's very humbling. His family doesn't know how they'll handle mounting medical expenses. Transplant drugs cost $3,000 a month. Their insurance caps at $2 million and they say they've almost hit the halfway mark. It could take a year to find a donor heart. And the Goforths are encouraging people to become organ donors.

Steve Goforth says it's odd going from being the person who helps to becoming the patient. But now he wears a pager every second to let him know when a new heart could save his life.

For information on upcoming fundraisers to benefit Steve Goforth or how you can help him go to www.firemansheart.org.