Indiana hero 25-year old man is being praised for his bravery after rescuing three teenagers and two young children from a burning house fire.
Nicholas “Nick” Bostic, a pizza delivery driver, was driving around 12:30 a.m. when he saw what looked like a small fire out front of a two-story house.
Nick stopped his car and flipped it in reverse to get a better view. He didn’t have his phone with him at the time, so he tried to wave down another passing driver, but with no luck.
The Good Samaritan hollered, and finally went inside the home. There was no smoke inside, and the lights were still on. It looked like the house had been evacuated.
Nick shouted more to see if anyone could hear him. He was halfway up the stairs before he realized that there were four people coming down.
The children’s parents, David and Tiera Barrett, had left about 30 minutes earlier for date night. Their 18-year-old daughter had called the other children to come get them when they saw their house on fire.
Nick turned to leave the house and walked out through the back door.
“I asked them if anybody was left in there ― and that’s when they told me that the 6-year-old was,” he told ABC 7 Chicago.
Nick instructed everyone to wait there, and rushed back inside for more information. He then went to the second floor to verify. He checked under beds, behind doors, and around desks in every room.
“Anywhere I could think,” he recalled. “I mean, I was high-tailing it, 110%. It was becoming difficult to see because of the bad smoke. … 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 strange calm. You just got to work as fast as you can.”
Nick doesn’t know how long he had been looking but said it felt like “forever.” Then, he heard what sounded like crying coming from the first floor.
By the time he got downstairs, he couldn’t see where the voice was coming from, so he pulled his shirt up around his mouth, closed his eyes, and started reaching into the thick smoke. He reached the girl, which was a good thing.
Nick took the child and placed her on his shoulder. He thought of getting out through the front or back door, but he couldn’t see them anymore because of the grey-black smoke.
Then he looked upstairs to see a little light. He remembered seeing a window in his second-floor bedroom, and thought that this might be the only way out.
Nick tried to break the window with his hand, but it bounced back. He tried again, and was able break the pane.
Although he couldn’t see how far the drop was, he knew they had no choice.
Nick jumped and landed on Nick’s right side, injuring him backside, arm and ankle. The man did all he could to absorb the impact for the little girl, and his efforts paid off because she “was miraculously mostly uninjured,” police said in a news release.
Nick can be seen in a police video bringing the baby to an officer at 12 :36 a.m. He exclaimed he needed oxygen and asked the baby if he was okay.
The police applied a tourniquet over his arm, which was throbbing profusely, before taking him to Franciscan Health Hospital in Lafayette. He was then transferred to Eskenazi, Indianapolis.
Nick was treated after suffering severe smoke inhalation and severe cuts to his arm as a result of punching the window. Since then, he was released.
Thankfully, all the home’s occupants also got out without serious injury. EMTs responded quickly to save Buffy, the family dog.
David and Tiera are grateful to Nick and their community for saving their children’s lives.
“I literally told him he’s now part of our family,” David told the Purdue Exponent. “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 the fire department, the fire started when ashes were poured into a bucket on the porch.
The Lafayette Aviators will honor the local hero at a game against Chillicothe Paints, August 2. Tickets purchased with the code FUND2022 will go to a GoFundMe account to help cover Nick’s medical expenses and bills.
A Facebook fundraiser was also held for Nick. Richard Stair, his cousin started a second GoFundMe account.
“Like I keep saying, it’s not like I’m some superstar hero,” Nick said. “I was at the right place, the right time, and, I guess, the right person.”
Here’s the police footage from that night.
Here’s the video to go along with the story. pic.twitter.com/TvZ5wzCg1f
— LafayetteINPolice (@LafayetteINPD) July 15, 2022
***Did you enjoy our feel-good and positive story? By simply subscribing to our site and sharing our stories, you can help us support each other.
