RSSA Story of a Hero, Part 1
Carolyn Hileman - The Voice | April 22, 2009
A Story of a Hero, Part 1
by Sue Feathers
The day before Thanksgiving in 2006 began as any other day. Little did we know it would be a Thanksgiving we will never forget.
I take care of my daughter’s eighteen month old son while she goes to work. On this particular week her husband was working out of town. She stopped by after work to pick up her son and asked to borrow my pie pans and some canned pumpkin. She was going to make pies that night for the next day’s get-togethers.
At around 6:30 in the evening I began to get things together to start cooking for the next day. Our phone rang and my husband handed me the phone saying it was the kids’ alarm company. I thought, “Not now, I don’t have time to discuss installing an alarm system.”
The lady on the phone told me they were receiving a burglar alarm from the kids’ garage. Because my daughter was there alone with the baby, I, of course, was concerned. My husband said he’d go check it out. He turned on our police scanner when he left
As I was cooking I heard a woman on the scanner screaming that her baby was inside. Then an officer called his dispatch and said the burglar alarm was a fire in progress and there was a baby trapped inside. They gave the address to send fire trucks. It was my daughter’s address! I fell to my knees and screamed. That was my daughter I was hearing on the scanner as she stood by the police cruiser. She was screaming because our precious baby was trapped inside.
At that moment my husband came in the door because he had forgotten his wallet. He decided it would not be a good idea to go snooping around the kids’ backyard with no ID and the police investigating the burglar alarm.
I screamed to him that our daughter’s house was on fire and the baby was trapped inside. I had to scream at him again because he was not comprehending.
I’ve never seen my husband go so fast out the door. He grabbed his wallet and he was gone. I heard the tires scream out of our driveway and take off down our street.
I called my daughter’s cell number but there was no answer. As I was going to the kitchen to shut down everything, my phone rang. It was my daughter screaming. I couldn’t understand her but I could hear her neighbor in the background. I asked her to give the phone to the lady and was told, “It’s bad, you need to get here.” I was on the way immediately.
I’m not supposed to drive after dark as I have night blindness. I didn’t speed. I did exactly the speed limit and prayed every inch of the way for my daughter. I know I had to be careful because I needed to get there for her and the baby.
When I got close to her house, I saw two fire trucks headed back to the station. I breathed a sigh of relief thinking it must be over, that everyone was okay.
However, there was still a sea of red and blue flashing lights at the scene. I was terrified at the number of emergency vehicles. I parked and ran for her house. I saw my daughter through the window of a rescue unit. I ran to her and my husband and held her tightly. The baby was awake and not burned but he was being taken to the hospital for observation.
My husband and I followed everyone to the hospital. On the way, he explained what had happened. Our daughter had gone next door for a couple minutes to deliver some pumpkin bars. When she left, the baby was asleep. She knew she wasn’t going to be gone long, so didn’t wake him up and take him with her. When she stepped out on the neighbors’ porch, a police car pulled up in front of her house. The officer met her in her yard and said they had a burglary call. They approached the house; she opened the front door and thick black smoke rolled out of the house. She tried to go in, but the officers stopped her. She screamed that her baby was inside. One officer ran to his car and called the fire department, the call that I had heard on the police scanner. One officer told the other to go to the back of the house and determine where the baby might be. That officer kicked in the baby’s room window and started to crawl in. The baby saw him, got scared and ran out of his room. A minute later the first officer called to say he had the child; he came out the front door with our baby in his arms! A miracle – the baby seemed all right and started to cry when he saw his mother. He was covered with soot but conscious. My husband had arrived at that time, making it to the scene in record time. The ambulance took off to the hospital with mother and child aboard.
To be continued Friday, 04/24/2009
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