Living the American dream for Richard Cheri Kossak meant living in a small, quiet community with good friends and a wonderful home.

When the family moved from Oak Brook Terrace to Somonauk more than a decade ago, they were able to obtain all these.

Helping people was second nature for Richard Sr., who is a paramedic firefighter for the village of Lombard as well as a member of the Somonauk volunteer fire department.

“In the past, whenever I would ask him for help he was there for me,” Somonauk firefighter Aaron Grandgeorge said. “I consider him one of my best friends even though he is 15 years older than me.”

When the Kossak family had their lives turned upside down March 2, as Richard Jr., 17, became deathly ill with strep throat, flu and pneumonia, it was hard for the family to become net takers instead of net givers, said Richard Sr.

But it is because they gave so much when they could, that when they needed someone to watch their 10-year-old son Stephen, so they could hold 24-hour vigils at Richard Jr.’s bed side, it happened effortlessly.

It is the same reason Richard Sr. was able to miss nearly three months of work at his fire house.

When it snowed, neighbors would take turns shoveling the walk, when the grass needed to be mowed, everyone pitched in.

The giving attitude of the community continued Saturday night as nearly 300 people came together for a benefit dinner and auction to help pay the medical costs for Richard Jr.

The theme was “Miracles Happen” and it was evident to everyone in attendance that miracles indeed have happened.

The first of five miracles believed to have saved Richard Jr. happened when he went into cardiac arrest and was clinically dead for 15 minutes but had no brain damage when he recovered.

As if coming back from the dead was not enough, Richard Jr. laid in a coma while on kidney dialysis with a heart that could not pump enough oxygenated blood. At this point Richard Jr.’s heart operated at only 20-percent efficiency.

Specialists took a specimen of Richard Jr.’s strep infection to find a way to kill it but nothing worked. It seemed as if he was headed toward another meeting with Death, Richard Sr. said.

Doctors then informed the family they should say their goodbyes and pray for a miracle because Richard Jr. did not stand much of a chance of living another day, Richard Sr. said.

More than 150 friends and family members lined the hallways of Aurora’s Rush-Copley Hospital’s intensive care unit, linked hands and prayed for a miracle.

“I had a dream that night,” said life-long friend Caneron Gibson. “I saw Richard in his room at the hospital when he jumped out of bed, ripped off all of the wires that were keeping him alive and began to dance.”

Caneron told his mother about the dream. No more than five minutes later the phone rang.

“Richard Sr. called to tell us that somehow Richard Jr. had turned the corner, his vitals were coming back and the specialists told them it was a miracle,” said family friend Christi Gibson.

After several days of improvement Richard Jr. took another turn for the worse.

He suffered another heart attack and was clinically dead again, this time for three minutes, Richard Sr. said.

Doctors agreed Richard Jr. needed a new heart and after only 10 days on the national heart transplant list, he received one with no complications, Richard Sr. said.

After removing Richard Jr.’s heart, surgeons informed his parents he had only a matter of hours before his heart would have failed completely, Richard Sr. said.

School started at Somonauk High School this past week and Richard Jr. was there not because of what one person did but because of how a whole community helped a family in need.