Days ago, Robert Smith was in a coma after being rescued from a fire. 

"First and foremost I want to say I am incredibly grateful, forever grateful, for these heroes here," Smith said to the firefighters of Station 6 in Syracuse.

Everyone in the room was part of the crew that fought a fire at a high-rise on Clinton Street Thursday. 

Smith told the first responders he's a new man. 

"What I can say is that I’m gonna do something good with my life. I quit smoking," he said. "I never want to see a cigarette again. An overload of smoke in my lungs let me know that it's just not a good idea."  

Smith lost most of his belongings, but the firefighters were able to save one of his prized possessions: his Xbox. 

"The Xbox is my baby, I can't deny that," Smith said, hugging the gaming console. "Getting small money on disability took a long time to save the money to buy those things so of course it was valuable to me." 

When a firetruck leaves the doors of the fire station, a happy ending is not guaranteed — in fact it doesn't happen that often. The firefighters say Smith's story is a miracle, and that's what made today so special.

"This is what we hope for. We hope it would happen 100 percent of the time, unfortunately that's not always the outcome," said Joe Skardinski, who found Smith unresponsive in his apartment Thursday. "This is good for all parties involved to see this. It drives us, helps us train more, helps us train harder." 

A story of a new outlook on life, thanks to the people that saved it. How rare is that? 

"It’s a one in a million," Skardinski said. "It really is."