A local Boston man is being hailed a hero after risking his life to return to a burning building and rescue his blind neighbor.
At around 3.30 am, fire services were called to a blaze on the 900 block of Tremont Street. Fire was apparently showing on the third and fourth floors of the apartment block. The fire was already growing before the emergency services could arrive. It came down to Socrate Joseph to rescue his blind neighbor from the burning building.
The elderly woman was legally blind, and Johnson noticed she was still in her apartment. Rather than save himself, he rushed back to help her from her room. Despite the encroaching inferno, his neighbor refused to be taken to safety.
So, taking the initiative, he grabbed her hand and threw her over his shoulder. Carrying her like this, he made his way down the stairs, where he came across a firefighter. The heroic neighbor had saved the blind woman from her stubbornness and the blazing house.
Recalling his heroics, Johnson spoke to independent station WHDH and ABC affiliate WCVB-TV. “I proceeded to grab her hand, but she was fighting back.” However, nobody was going to stop him from being a hero. “In that moment, I just yanked her, put her over my shoulders, [and began] climbing down the steps with her.”
Praise For Saving The Blind Neighbor From Burning Building
Despite not getting any thanks from the bling neighbor, the fire services are thankful for his quick thinking during the fire. “His quick actions of carrying his neighbor to an exit and passing her to responding firefighters were heroic and undoubtedly saved her life in a rapidly progressing fire.”
But, for Socrate, it was just what he had to do. There was no hesitation, despite her fighting back. “It was just the right thing to do, even though she was really stubborn. I couldn’t just leave her there.”
At the moment, it isn’t clear what caused the fire. However, the blind old woman who refused to leave her apartment should probably be investigated. That’s very suspicious behaviour. Why didn’t she want to leave? What was she up to?