When the alarm goes off it's an adrenaline rush.
You know, the blood starts moving
there's a sense of "I need to be a hero."
It's just a rush to get to your gear
run onto the fire truck and go out help someone.
My name is Beau Crowding
and with the help of Penn Bariatrics I lost 229 pounds.
Did you try the bear sausage? Beau: I'm going to have to check the calorie content...
Our firehouse chef here, eggs and bear sausage -Eggs and bear sausage this morning!
That's kinda weird!
My father was a firefighter.
It was just a passion that was in the family
to help serve the community.
The fun part is being able to go out on a fire truck and
you know, use your lights and sirens, but you really
want help someone and make their day a
little brighter hopefully
I think we're giving a gift to be able
to deal with that but a lot of it comes
back to training
We're wearing 80- 90 pounds worth of gear
in the middle of the summer, so it's pretty physically demanding.
We need to make sure that we're physically fit
and myself, I got to a
point in my life where I was overweight
I just think back...how did I get to where I was?
Getting in and out the fire trucks
will be getting more difficult
I remember driving to one fire, I had to
go around to the back of the fire truck
and disconnect the hose, and I had to get
down on my knees...I couldn't get back up.
I just didn't have the energy or the strength.
I could no longer do it, and I had to give it up.
One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life.
So I said I have to do something.
So I started doing research and
I found the Penn Medicine Bariatric Program
and went to the informational session.
You're able to be there one-on-one with a surgeon
The first question she asked: "Why are you doing this?"
and I said because I want to be skinny.
and she said "No, you don't want to be skinny you want to be healthy.
Healthy means that your heart's in good condition
your body is in good condition
No longer to be hypertensive, no longer to be a diabetic.
That truly, I think, was a point for me
I want be healthy.
I went in that morning just excited to
get on the other side of the operating room
and to start the process to get
back and be active at the fire company.
Some of the milestones right after surgery
obviously it's losing weight
at one point you become addicted to the scale
The staff told me you gotta stop weighing yourself every minute
It just motivated me that, Wow, I lost another pound.
They said you gotta get out and start walking.
I started in my neighborhood
A month later I was doing in three miles
and wasn't out of breath
It was unbelievable every time we saw him how much weight he lost.
230? 229.
Eh, 230 -We'll give you that extra pound!
Several years later I was starting to
get back interested in the firehouse and
said you know I I got to get back down
there. I'm physically fit, I'm healthy.
I had come down to the fire house for a meeting. -How you doing?
Just happened to be here and there was a call.
there was a call made love to me and
They looked at me and they said, "You should drive."
And I'm like "Nah, that it's okay I'm not ready to get back
into this one hundred percent.
They looked at me and said you need to drive.
They believed in me
I actually got on the fire engine and I drove
Since then I've been back here active.
Being at the fire house was something
that made me happy for such a long time
and I was finally back here and I felt that adrenaline rush again.
I also have to say, in my new healthy lifestyle
that same adrenaline rush comes to me
when I run across the finish line at a 5K.
When you rank everybody that supported me
there's one line, and it has my family
it has my friends, it has my co-workers
and Penn Medicine is right there.
They were there for you before, there for you during,
and I can attest they're still there for me today.
The best part about being a volunteer firefighter
is the reward of helping that's in need.
And now I'm in a good position health-wise
that I can be there for them.
Still doing it 30 years later... I had to take a little bit of a break
but now I'm back and happy that I'm here.