Four Oklahoma teens are being called heroes today after rushing into a burning home and rescuing the 90-year-old occupant.
The homeowner, Catherine Ritchie, was about to go to sleep for the night when she saw her bed had caught on fire. Daughter Missy Nicholas explained in a blog post that her mother ” made an attempt to extinguish the flames herself by throwing blankets and pillows on the fire.”
The blog post continues that Ritchie was quickly overwhelmed by the smoke and became disoriented. She was unable to find a way out of her bedroom. Luckily for Ritchie, four boys across the street had wandered outside after smelling smoke.
“Not an adult in sight,” Nicholas wrote. “4 kids who took immediate action to save an elderly woman who they couldn’t guarantee was home and who 3 of them had never even met.”
“One started breaking the glass on the front door. One called 911. One went to the back door and began kicking it in. One went to the neighbors for an ax and help,” Nicholas’s blog post continues. Fourteen-year-old Nick Byrd gained entrance to the house first. He quickly found Ritchie and led her outside to safety. Firefighters would arrive shortly after and extinguish the fire.
“Kids who are told about all the things they aren’t old enough to do, saved the life of the most precious and beloved woman we know,” Nicholas writes. “Courageous young men. Young men who risked their own lives, their own safety, perhaps their good standing with their parents who might have chosen for them to do otherwise.”
Nicholas identified the four boys as 17-year-old Wyatt Hall, 16-year-old Dylan Wick, 16-year-old Seth Byrd and 14-year-old Nick Byrd.
Nicholas went on to thank these four heroes in her blog post.
“Thank you for your selfless acts of heroism and courage. Thank you for not allowing this to be the tragic end to our mother’s amazing life. Thank you for staying with her, hugging her, and helping her feel less alone until we could get to her,” she wrote. Nicholas then signed the post behalf of all of her mother’s 10 children and 42 grandchildren.
These four boys did not know the woman across the need, nor that she had so many family members that loved her dearly. What they did know is that she needed their help to escape a terrible tragedy. These boys put their loves on the line to save this woman and thankfully their risk was rewarded.
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