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