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Nicholas Bostic, 25, was severely injured while saving three teenagers and two children from a burning house.
As per the Lafayette Police Department, a passerby, Bostic, dialed 911 to let the police know about the fire on Monday, July 11, just after midnight. He noticed the house burning while he was driving in Lafayette, Indiana, and pulled into the driveway.
The police statement reads that Nicholas Bostic, a pizza delivery man by profession, "decided to go in" and check the house even after contemplating the possibility of nobody being inside. He entered the burning house through the backdoor of the building. He immediately alerted the three sleeping teenagers and they escaped the fire on their own with a one-year-old baby.
However, Bostic's job was not done yet. After helping the teens, he learned that there was a six-year-old trapped inside the burning structure. The police state that Bostic ran into the house "without hesitation" to save the little girl.
Bostic has since been commended by the internet and called a 'true superhero.'
Netizens react to Nicholas Bostic's exceptional bravery
Social media users have been discussing Nicholas' incredible valour. Many took to Twitter to hail the pizza delivery man and shared their heartfelt gratitude. Take a look at some of the reactions.
Nicholas Bostic speaks about the fateful night
Nicholas Bostic admitted having an “inner dialogue” with himself before going ahead to save the last child. Later, he told the police that walking inside the house felt like "walking into an oven" but he was determined to save the six-year-old kid.
In another interview with Dave Bangert, he recalled what went on inside his head while he entered the house again to save the child. He noted:
"I don’t know how to explain it, but it was like I accepted I was going to probably die, right there, that night. But it was a weird calm. You just got to work as fast as you can."
Nicholas Bostic also mentioned that he heard the child crying and used her voice to understand where she was actually stuck. Bostic then struggled to find the backdoor after rescuing the girl due to the rooms being filled with smoke.
The Lafayette Police state that he "broke open a window by punching it with his bare hand" and saved the child heroically. The press release for the incident mentioned that the six-year-old was "miraculously mostly uninjured."
Speaking to the Purdue Exponent, 13-year-old Shaylee Barrett, one of the teenagers that Nicholas saved, recalled:
"For a minute I didn’t understand it, but my sister ran upstairs with the baby in her hands and yelling at us to get up because there’s a fire... And for a minute I froze and I laid there because I was confused. That’s when we went downstairs and Nick was downstairs helping us.”
Bostic has been released from the hospital. He suffered a broken shoulder but is on his way to recovery.
