A leftover from Friday in case you missed it. And part of a very big week for Good Samaritans in Indiana.
Imagine being a cop or a firefighter and rolling up to this scene outside a raging inferno.
Here’s the video to go along with the story. pic.twitter.com/TvZ5wzCg1f
— LafayetteINPolice (@LafayetteINPD) July 15, 2022
I’ve only ever seen that in movies. Even the local PD’s press release about the incident reads like a scene from a thrilling adventure novel.
The hero’s name is Nick Bostic. He was driving to get gas after midnight on July 11 and passed a house on fire, which the fire department believes began after ashes that hadn’t been fully extinguished were left in a bucket on the front porch. He didn’t have his phone with him and couldn’t call 911 so he stopped and found an unlocked door in the back of home. When he called out to see if anyone was inside, a teenager appeared at the top of the stairs with some younger children.
Seionna Barrett, 18, was babysitting her three siblings and her sister’s friend while their parents were out on a date night playing darts. Seionna had smelled smoke and was frantically trying to wake up everyone to get them out of the house when Bostic busted through the back door.
Bostic said he hustled everyone outside — then Seionna told him the baby was missing. Bostic would soon learn she was referring to 6-year-old Kaylani, nicknamed “Baby K,” who was still in the burning house.
Those four might have made it out without Bostic’s help. But the fifth, Kaylani, was in real trouble. For some reason she was downstairs, where the fire was spreading quickly.
“I ran inside and looked under beds and closets, but I couldn’t find her,” he said. “But when I got to the stairs that led downstairs, I heard some faint crying.”
The staircase was full of smoke, and the heat seemed unbearable, he said, adding that he hesitated for a moment before plunging down the stairs…
“I rolled her up in my arm like a football, then felt my way back up the stairs,” Bostic said. “It was extremely hot and smoky, and it was painful to breathe. The only light I could see was coming from the rooms upstairs. So I headed up there.”
Bostic has no formal training as a first responder but “he said he watches TV shows about police and fire departments, which he believes helped make critical decisions when inside the burning home,” per Fox News.
Once he got back to the second floor with Kaylani, he had to punch out a window, leaving a deep gash in his right arm, then jumped from the second story with the girl in his arms. That’s where the bodycam video picks up. He ended up with first-degree burns on various parts of his body, including blisters on his hands. Amazingly, the six-year-old had only minor injuries. Equally amazingly, Bostic is already out of the hospital. He was airlifted to Indianapolis for treatment for his wounds, which included severe smoke inhalation, but was released on Wednesday.
And now that he’s out, he got to meet the Barretts properly. You can see a photo of them together at the end of WaPo’s story about the rescue. “I literally told him he’s now part of our family,” David Barrett told local media. “And he was all on board with it. Once we get settled someplace, we’re going to invite him over and his girlfriend for dinner.”
In the meantime, Bostic has hospital bills to pay. His cousin launched a GoFundMe to help cover the costs that’s currently raised more than twice its initial target. If you’d like to contribute, here you go.
Here’s the man of the hour speaking to Fox News yesterday about his ordeal.
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