A 25-year-old pizza delivery man risked his own life to save two children and three teenagers from a burning house in Indiana.
Nicholas Bostic may never be hailed a hero by the masses like let’s say Superman of Metropolis. Or John Wayne in True Grit or even George Washington at Valley Forge. But this 25-year-old pizza delivery driver is the greatest hero one family will ever know!
At around midnight on Monday, July 11 as Nick Bostic was driving through LaFayette, Indiana. Little did he know, God had him on a path to save five children.
Nick spotted a house in flames. Seeing no emergency help outside the home, he entered the backdoor and began yelling at anyone inside. His shouts woke four of the five kids in the home, and he quickly helped them escape the burning structure.
Once out, the kids told Nick that one child remained inside. Nick ran right back into the flames to locate the missing 6-year-old girl. Unable to find her in the upstairs bedroom, he began looking for an exit.
He then heard the youngster’s cries from the ground floor.
Nick covered his mouth and nose with his shirt and returned downstairs for her. Unable to find his original exit, Nick, now holding the little girl safely in his arms, went upstairs once again, finally busting and jumping from a second-story window!
Nick did all of this within a matter of minutes and without thought for his own safety! That’s pretty incredible!
In a press release from the Lafayette Police Department, authorities recounted how Nick immediately leaped into action when he noticed the burning house.
Nick had no phone on him and knew time was of the essence if anyone was trapped in the inferno. He made his way to the back door and called out to its occupants, with no reply.
Nick described the ground floor of the house as being a “black lagoon” of smoke, according to police, and had to crawl on the floor, feeling with his hands to get around the house.
He told police he had an “inner dialogue” with himself about whether getting the last child out was possible but was determined not to quit, though the house felt like “walking into an oven.”
He ran back up the stairs where the smoke wasn’t as thick and “broke open a window by punching it with his bare hand,” police wrote.
The parents of four of the five rescued youths — one of the teenagers was there for a sleepover — were out for a date night when the fire started and returned home to find their house engulfed in flames and surrounded by emergency vehicles.
David and Tiera Barrett expressed their gratitude to Nick in an interview with the Exponent.
“I literally told him he’s now part of our family,” David Barrett said. “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.”
According to AWM, the video was posted to Reddit, where it promptly became a viral sensation. Thousands of people shared comments about the rescue, including the following:
“This is the bit that made my eyes well up. The guy was obviously exhausted and in pain, and all he cared about was the kid. What a legend.”
“As he’s getting a tourniquet put on him to stop the bleeding!”
“For real. After all that, exhausted and no doubt in pain, all he was worried about was the well-being of that child. This man is the genuine article right here.”
In an interview after the drama cooled off, the pizza delivery hero said, “Everyone says, hero-this or hero-that, I don’t know about that. I was just a guy.”
In a statement by LPD, a representative said, “The Lafayette Police Department and the Honorable Mayor Tony Roswarski are eternally grateful for Nicholas’ intervention and would like to publicly recognize him for his actions.” That is exactly what will happen when Nick is recognized at the August 2 Lafayette Aviators’ National Night Out.
For Nick’s part, he told TMZ that he was just very thankful and blessed to have been there at the right time and to have had the opportunity to save the five children. Nicholas is receiving tons of love on social media and through the GoFundMe page that has been set up.
Watch the video below for more details:
