Dramatic video: Good Samaritan enters burning home, jumps out of second story window to rescue 5 kids

LAFAYETTE, Ind. – A man in Indiana is being hailed a hero after his dramatic rescue of five children from a burning home.

Nicholas Bostic saved the lives of five kids on Monday after a fire broke out in their home and at least a portion of the rescue was caught on a police body camera.

Lafayette police said Bostic happened to be driving by the house when he noticed the fire and couldn’t call 911.

Rather than waste time finding someone who could call in the fire, Bostic tried to gain access to the home and was able to open the back door.

Police said he tried yelling inside to alert whoever might be home that the house was on fire but nobody answered.

“Not taking the chance that someone could still be inside, he decided to go in,” according to a news release.

Bostic made his way up the stairs, yelling for whoever could hear him and found four children ranging in age from 1 to 18. His yells woke the four and Bostic was able to help them from the house.

Once they were all safely outside, one of the children told Bostic a 6-year-old was still inside.

“Without hesitation, he ran back into the burning house,” the news release states.

Bostic ran back upstairs where the other children had been sleeping but didn’t see anyone.

“He frantically searched the rooms, even looking under the beds, but it was to no avail-he could not find the child,” according to the release.

Bostic headed back downstairs but was met with what he described as a “black lagoon” of smoke and thought it was impossible to go that way so he turned to jump out of a window from the second floor. That’s when he said he heard the child’s cries from downstairs.

Bostic told police he had an internal dialog with himself and knew he had to get the child out despite the fire and smoke, which he said frightened him.

Determined to rescue the 6-year-old, police said Bostic wrapped his shirt around his mouth and nose and went into the smoke-filled bottom level of the home.

“He described it as so black that he couldn’t see anything in front of him, and the heat from the fire made it seem as if he was walking into an oven,” police said. “Nicholas crawled on the ground, feeling in front of him with his hands and used the child’s cries to help him locate her in the darkness.”

After Bostic had the child he was unable to locate the back door and ran back upstairs.

Police said Bostic then broke a window by punching it with his bare hand and tried to carry the child outside but her foot got tangled in a pull cord for the blinds.

“Nicholas recognized that he was rushing and calmed himself down. He untangled the string and jumped from the window, ensuring he landed on the side where he was not holding the child. He picked himself up off the ground and carried the girl to safety,” police said.

The video shows Bostic running from the burning house with the little girl, who he hands to police who arrived on the scene.

He can barely catch his breath and tells officers “I need oxygen” as the girl’s cries can be heard in the background.

The video cuts to police tending to Bostic as he lays on the ground. While police are applying a tourniquet to his arm, Bostic asks “is the baby ok? Please tell me that baby’s ok.”

Police can be heard telling Bostic that the little girl is going to be ok before saying, “you did good dude.”

Bostic was seriously injured in the incident and suffered from severe smoke inhalation and grave cuts to his arm. He was flown to Indianapolis for medical treatment but, according to his Facebook page, was able to leave the hospital on Wednesday.

In a comment on one of Bostic’s Facebook posts, he said he is part of the children’s family now and “to me that’s priceless.”

Lafayette police said Bostic’s actions saved lives. The local police and fire departments, along with Layafette Mayor Tony Roswarski publicly recognized Bostic’s heroism and said he will be honored on August 2 at National Night Out at the Aviators game in Lafayette.