As moms or parents, we all love our children so much that nothing on this earth would stop us from keeping them protected and safe. It can be hard, however, to imagine just how intense that may be, should we ever need to do something drastic to save the lives of our children. This father saved his daughters from a fire (At this time, the cause of the fire is yet to be determined) at their Eastpointe, Michigan home. This story proves how quickly things can go so very wrong, and how careful we need to be, especially when even considering leaving our children home alone or in the care of others.
Father saved daughters from home fire
On July 17th, Ray Lucus and his girlfriend Shi’Ann Brown went to the store which was not too far from their home. Ray’s mom had been left to look after his twin baby girls, aged 18 months. After returning home from the store, Ray and Shi’Ann found their home up in flames, with Rays mom standing in the front yard in a flat panic, trying to get help. The twins were inside the house. Speaking to CNN, Ray says he immediately sprung into action, knowing that he had no choice but to save his babies.
“I was speechless. Action took over me. I ran into the house to get my babies. I’m looking at it as a father. I did anything that any other father would do or should do.”
As the fire fast spread through all three stories of their home, the father saved daughters by being quick enough. Although, even though he was there just in time, he and his babies still suffered burns. Both girls were in their crib which was in the basement of the home, and, despite smoke and flames, Ray managed to hold them close and get them out.
“I really only found my babies due to my memory, just knowing where they were and knowing how to get to them — just from having that same route. I was ecstatic my babies were OK and everybody was able to walk away from situation. We didn’t lose anyone.”
Both babies and father suffered serious burns
The way this father saved his daughters was probably not the smartest way to go about it. Running blindly into a burning building is never a good idea. Luckily for Ray, they all made it out alive. However, his heroism did not leave him or his daughters entirely unscathed. Ray had second and third-degree burns, and he was left blind for three days. Both his daughters also suffered some serious burns and had to be admitted to the Intensive care unit at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit.
“My arms burned, both ears burned, right side of face burned, and my neck was burned. My vision I feel is back to normal, it could be better.”
While the father saved his daughters, he and his family have unfortunately lost everything in the fire. Not to mention extensive medical bills,
“The house didn’t burn all the way down, but it’s a lost cause. Everyone’s possessions were gone from smoke damage or flames. It’s still not real to me… the situation is still so surreal to me.”
Ray’s aunt has helped by setting up a GoFundMe page to try help raise funds to help Ray with all the bills and rebuilding of their lives thanks to the fire. Although they had hoped to achieve a goal of $40,000, so far, more than 8,000 people have donated more than $286,000!