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Indiana man who jumped saved girl from burning Indiana home to receive Carnegie Medal for heroism

Former Indiana delivery driver to be given Carnegie Medal for heroism
Former Indiana delivery driver to be given Carnegie Medal for heroism 00:34

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A former pizza delivery driver from Indiana will soon be awarded the nation's highest honor for civilian heroism for saving a girl from a burning home last summer.

Nicholas Bostic was driving in Lafayette, Indiana, last July when he saw a house in flames, and ran inside to alert the people inside.

An 18-year-old woman was in the home babysitting her three siblings — ages 1, 6 and 13 — along with a 13-year-old friend of her eldest sibling, while their parents were out playing darts, The Washington Post reported.

Bostic said the 18-year-old was able to get three of the children out herself. When she told him that one was still missing, it prompted Bostic to search the smoke-filled home for that child.

Because of the dense smoke, he said his only option was to exit through a second-floor window. Bostic punched out the glass and jumped to safety with the 6-year-old girl in his arms. He suffered multiple injuries but the girl only suffered a minor cut to her foot.

He was hospitalized for three days after suffering burns, smoke inhalation, and a laceration to his arm after jumping from the second-floor to escape the flames with the 6-year-old girl in his arms.

Bostic will soon be awarded the Carnegie Medal for heroism.

He said he's not a hero, and just did what he would have wanted someone to do for him and his family if their home was on fire.

"It was all worth it. I kept reminding myself, what a small sacrifice. This temporary pain ... it's so worth it," he told CBS affiliate WLFI-TV. 

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