A Cleveland man is being hailed as a hero for his determination to rescue an infant trapped in a burning house.
John Stickovich was on his way to work when the 62-year-old saw a house consumed in fire and smoke, but no fire engines had yet arrived.
In front of the house, Stickovich saw who he assumed was the occupant looking on despondently.
“The mother was sitting on the… lawn with her one baby and I asked her if she was all right and she said, ‘My baby is still in the house,’ and I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh my God, I have to save the baby.’ That’s how it was going to be,” Stickovich told Nexstar’s WJW.
Circling the house, he tried to go in through the side door, but kicking it in, he found the smoke and fire was too much. At the back of the house, another door was already open, and Stickovich crawled in to search for the baby before being driven back out empty-handed.
He asked the mother where she last saw her child, to which she replied that it was next to the baby gate. So plunging once more into the inferno, Stickovich sought in vain with time and oxygen running short. Contemplating what to do, the thought of saving himself emerged, but the hero-to-be squashed it after hearing the infant making a sound.
Throwing himself in the sound’s direction, his arm caught hold of the baby’s leg before the man retreated with all the strength he had left.
The fire had been so severe that two firefighters arriving after Stickovich completed the rescue mission were injured trying to control the blaze. The department said Stickovich’s actions were without doubt the reason that the baby survived.
Treated for smoke inhalation at the MetroHealth Medical Center, Stickovich was able to go home the same day, and WJW Cleveland says that it is believed the city is poised to honor the man for his bravery.
“I feel wonderful that I could save the baby. That mother doesn’t have to mourn her baby. That baby gets to live today,” he said. “Everybody is just calling and saying how great of a job it was, but I mean, I would do it for anybody, it doesn’t matter. And I would hope that somebody would do it for me.”
