A dramatic viral video shows the moment a heroic Indiana man carried a child out of a home that was engulfed in flames last week. The man had rushed into the burning house twice to save five children who were trapped inside.
Nicholas Bostic, 25, was driving down Union Street in Lafayette, Indiana just after midnight on July 11 when he noticed the burning house, the Lafayette Police Department said in a news release.
Bostic immediately jumped into action, running to the back of the home in search of a way in. He was able to open a back door and started yelling in an attempt to alert anyone inside the home.
“He didn’t receive an answer and contemplated the possibility that everyone had already evacuated. Not taking the chance that someone could still be inside, he decided to go in,” police said.
Bostic walked through the burning house, calling out about the danger, and eventually found four children aged 1 to 18 sleeping upstairs. After helping them escape the house, Bostic learned that a six-year-old was still inside the home.
“Without hesitation, he ran back into the burning house. Not knowing where the child was, he went to the last place where he located the other children – the upstairs. He frantically searched the rooms, even looking under their beds, but it was to no avail – he could not find the child. He started down the stairs but was immediately turned back,” police said. “He described looking down the stairwell into a ‘back lagoon’ of smoke and thought it impossible to go that way.”
Bostic turned to exit through a window when he heard a child crying downstairs.
“Nicholas told me about an inner dialogue he had with himself. He knew he was there to get that child out, and even though the fire and smoke downstairs frightened him, he would not quit,” police said.
“Nicholas wrapped his shirt around his mouth and nose and plunged into the blackness,” they continued. “He described it as so black that he couldn’t see anything in front of him, and the heat from the fire made it seem as if he was walking into an oven.”
Bostic told police that he crawled on the ground, following the child’s cries until he finally found her. Once he had the young girl in his arms, he managed to find his way back to the stairs and broke a window by punching it with his bare hand.
He jumped from the second-story window with the child in his arms and carried her to safety.
The Lafayette Police Department tweeted the incredible video, showing the moment Bostic comes running out of the burning home with the child in his arms. After handing the child over to first responders, Bostic lays on the ground.
“Is the baby, ok? Please tell me that baby is ok,” Bostic asks as he struggles to breathe. The video blurs out a wound on his right arm.
A police officer reassures him that the children are ok and says, “You did good, dude.”
Bostic was seriously injured during the daring rescue, suffering severe smoke inhalation and a cut to his right arm. He also told WLFI that the bottom of his hands are blistered “like I grabbed something hot.”
“I recall seeing flames through the window as I was punching it out,” he said.
“Nicholas Bostic’s heroic actions saved lives,” police said. “His selflessness during this incident is inspiring, and he impressed many with his courage, tenacity, and steadfast calmness in the face of such perilous dangers.”
Bostic’s cousin organized a fundraiser to help Bostic pay for medical expenses and an update on the fundraiser said that Bostic “seems to be feeling better and in good spirits.”
