Ralph has made a career of serving others; he has been a firefighter for 20 years. He has served on the City Council for five years and as council president for the past four years.

What he didn't realize was that it would take a very serious accident to slow him down enough so that others could "return" some of that service. Not that it preys on his mind, but he can tell you the exact day of the accident.

"We were at the Monroe County Airport fighting what we thought was a hangar fire, when I had a head rush and collapsed," he said. The fall ruptured his kidney. Upon examination, the medical team advised that Ralph be considered for a kidney translplant.