VIDEO: A group of Arvada firefighters rallied around their colleague at Red Rocks Amphitheater Sunday morning, for his first workout since heart surgery.
"Chris is probably one of the most fit people on the fire department," Arvada firefighter and longtime friend Donny Barra said. "I've been with him since the beginning of this whole ordeal. When we found out he was back working out we were pretty excited."
Chris Schmidt, who has been with the fire dept. for more than 20 years, says he was diagnosed with a valve infection called Endocarditis in mid-March.
Because the infection is so rare, he says it took doctors several days to figure out what was wrong.
"[The doctor] told me he had no idea how I had recovered. He has seen some bad hearts, but nothing as bad as mine."
Schmidt says because he has a pacemaker, he is no longer able to work as a firefighter; however, the department is hoping to keep him working in another capacity.