A Washington man is rightfully being hailed a hero after charging into a burning home to save his eight-year-old niece.
Reports detail how 20-year-old Derrick Byrd suffered second and third-degree burns on his face, back, and arms, having rushed into the building when he became aware his niece was trapped.
Speaking to KOMO-TV, he said: “Even though I got burnt, I really didn’t care, though. I’d rather get burnt than her. She’s young. She’s still got a lot of stuff going for her. She’s a good kid.”
The fire, at a home in Aberdeen, Washington is believed to have started while Byrd and six other family members were inside, including his sister, Kayla, and her three children.
Byrd caught his nephews, Junior and Royce, when they jumped from a window on the second floor. His eight-year-old niece Mercedes, however, was too afraid to jump after having watched Kayla fall from the roof.
Without thinking, Byrd dashed back into the house to rescue her. Within moments, he could feel the flames on him.
“I could feel it burning me,” he explained.
“I got her and took my shirt off and put it around her face so she wouldn’t breathe in any smoke and I just carried her out as fast as I could.”
True hero
What’s more, despite suffering injuries, Byrd said he would do it again if he had to.
“I’d run back in there and do it again even if I got burnt worse or died.”
Commenting on all those dubbing him a hero, he simply replied: “I can’t say a hero. I’d just say for my niece and nephews, I wasn’t going to let them die.”
What a genuine hero Derrick Byrd truly is. In moments like that, people’s true colours are shown, and Derrick can certainly be proud of his.
Man Thinks He Found “Hornets” Nest In Attic – Turns Pale When He Realizes What’s Inside
It broke the monotony of James’s day to see Liam sobbing in the attic. He didn’t know that as he hurried to console his terrified son, a long-kept secret was about to be revealed in their house.
The narrative started in 2018 when deer harmed the family’s arborvitae trees. They saw something strange between the trees on the east side of the yard as they were getting ready to replace them. It was initially thought to be an electrical box, but it turned out to be far more confusing.
When landscapers arrived in May 2018 to take down the damaged trees, they found the metal box was not just any old fixture but the entrance to a giant hornet’s nest. Astonished by the size of the nest and its strange noises, which sounded like a struggling vehicle engine, James and Liam surmised that something important was hidden inside.
James summoned a hornet control professional; however, the specialist turned him down for the work after seeing the unusual hive in the attic. James called around to a few pest control companies, but was told to hold off until winter. James made the decision to act alone due to the deafening noise and deteriorating circumstances.
James put on protective gear and tried to take the nest down by himself. He got stung by hornets a lot and felt quite uncomfortable. In an effort to keep his family safe, Liam fearlessly put out a smoker to temporarily subdue the hornets, unintentionally exposing a shocking finding inside the nest.
Aware of Liam’s bravery but worried about his safety, James and his wife Emma had a falling out over the disturbing information.
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