An HPD officer is being called a hero for saving 1,500 lives during Harvey, all while fighting for his own

According to reports, Houston police officer Norbert Ramón helped rescue 1,500 of his fellow Houstonians during Hurricane Harvey.

While he and his fellow officers, firefighters and other first responders showed unprecedented levels of courage, dedication and self-sacrifice during the storm, very few of them were also fighting for their own lives at the same time:

As Ramón rescued hundreds of people fighting the floodwaters, the 24-year veteran officer also battled his stage 4 colon cancer, which reportedly metastasized to his liver and lungs.

Few would fault Officer Ramón for choosing to stay home with his loved ones and waiting out the storm due to his cancer, but, instead, he stepped up and saved countless lives.

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“Our oath is to go out and protect and serve other people,” Ramón said in an interview with CNN. “You’re always concerned about other people. You don’t dwell on yourself.”

As the floodwaters rose, Officer Ramón said he couldn’t make it to his usual duty station in downtown Houston, which is why, instead, he drove to the nearest duty station in Atascocita, a suburb northeast of Houston, where officers patrolled the newly-formed, since receded, Lake Houston in small boats.

Ramón and his fellow officers reportedly later used these boats in dozens of rescue missions during and after the storm.

“Once we got there, then it was just normal work,” Ramón said in the interview. “We were just working. We’re loading people, getting them out.”

Cancer and all, Ramón said he kept up his efforts during 12-hour shift for nearly four straight days, and with many of Houston’s hospitals either overcrowded or closed due to the storm, Ramon and his wife said they were fine to drive to Oklahoma to continue his chemotherapy.

RELATED: Teen Rescued 17 Neighbors With Air Mattress to Become Harvey Hero

Despite the progress of the disease and the less-than-promising prognosis, Ramón said he wants to keep a positive attitude:

“People have told me that they were diagnosed with just six months to live and now they’re on their 19th year. So, I mean, it can be beat. You just got to figure out where to go and what to do.”

Houston would be nothing without its heroes like this.

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