A Las Vegas, Nevada, man recently introduced his two-year-old son to the firefighter who pulled him, the dad, from a burning home 23 years ago, inspiring him to become a firefighter himself.

Twenty-six-year-old Xavier Lewis wrote in a viral tweet, “When I was 2 years old, my house caught on fire, and I was trapped inside; I ended up dying that day & this firefighter, Jeff Ohs, saved me from that building and brought me back to life. Now 23 years later, he is holding my 2-year-old son. I literally wouldn’t be here without him.”

The two have stayed in touch over the years. And over time, both even moved to Las Vegas, where Lewis’ mother recently arranged a dinner for the families to reconnect. That’s when Lewis introduced his son Ezra to the man who saved his life when he was that age. Oh replied to Lewis’ tweet, “Dude!!! You are a fighter through and through. And honestly, you scared the [expletive] out of me that day. So blessed for the outcome. Love you guys.”

Ohs said he remembers that day in October of 1999. He and his partner were out doing an inspection on the east side of their district in Long Beach, California, when the call came in. Ohs told Fox News Digital, “We pulled up to a single-story, single-family residence with fire showing from the back of the residence. We did our thing. We stretched lines, and we made entry. We were able to knock the bulk of the fire out pretty quickly.”

Ohs said there was no indication, in the chaos, that anyone was inside the house, but he decided to search the house just in case quickly. He continued, “I searched the front living room, front bedroom, bathroom, and back bedroom, where he found Xavier. Lewis, a toddler at the time, was on the floor and was unresponsive, according to Ohs. He said, “I picked him up, ran outside with him, and we did CPR and mouth-to-mouth on the front grass for I don’t know how long, a minute or two, maybe.”

When I was 2 years old my house caught on fire & I was trapped inside, I ended up dying that day & this firefighter, Jeff Ohs, saved me from that building & brought my back to life. Now 23 years later he is holding my 2 year old son. I literally wouldn’t be here without him pic.twitter.com/FLxmKG19DF

— XD (@XavierDimples) May 30, 2023

“He tried to take a breath, so we picked him up and ran him to the paramedic ambulance,” Ohs added. Lewis was taken to the hospital, where he was in a coma due to smoke inhalation. “They had to work on his breathing and try to prevent him from developing any other complications like aspiration or pneumonia or anything like that,” Ohs remembered.

Ohs said for the first day or two, he would call to check on Lewis. Lewis got a memorable ride home when he was finally released from the hospital. “We actually brought him home in the fire engine,” Ohs said. “But he had no idea what had happened because he was so little. We even went to an awards luncheon together, and Xavier and my son Kyle just played together underneath the table.”

The families stayed in touch over the years. Ohs said Lewis’ mom would bring him by the station when they visited family in Las Vegas at Christmas time. Lewis said he couldn’t remember Ohs saving him, but his mother always ensured he knew the story. Lewis told Fox News Digital, “My mom told me he saved my life and everything. She would always take me to go see him. I have newspaper articles and everything from the day it happened.”

Now that he’s older and has a child of his own, Lewis said he can better process what happened 23 years ago. “I’m actually able to appreciate my life and everything that everybody else has gone through for it,” Lewis said.