OLMSTED FALLS, Ohio — Chad Gluss knows every corner of his small town. For 21 years, he served the community as a firefighter and then a fire chief, responding to emergencies and saving lives.

Now, voters have chosen him as their next mayor of Olmsted Falls. But what many didn't know during his campaign was just how close Gluss came to never being here at all.

Nearly two years ago, the 51-year-old went into cardiac arrest while teaching an EMT class. His survival, and the journey that followed, involved a five-and-a-half-month hospital stay, a life-saving heart transplant, and the difficult recovery that tested his resolve at every turn.

"My heart has been in this community for 28 years," Gluss said.

Now, with a literal new heart, he's preparing to lead it.

The day everything chan

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