Video: 'Hero' Indiana man saved 4 children from blazing house fire: God 'used me like his instrument that night'



An Indiana man is being hailed as a hero for saving five people, including four children, from a raging house fire.

Around 12:30 a.m. on Monday, Nick Bostic was driving home and noticed that a house was on fire. He immediately pulled into the driveway and ran to the back of the home.

Bostic told WXIN, "I saw the fire on the balcony so I slammed on the brakes, pulled in the driveway, and ran into the house from the back. I was hollering ‘Is there anybody in there?’"

Bostic busted into the burning home. The 25-year-old Lafayette man helped three children – as young as 2 years old – and their 18-year-old sister escape the inferno. However, the group told him that there was still a 6-year-old child trapped in the smoldering home.

The fire had grown in size, and the smoke made it difficult to see and breathe.

"The smoke just came out of nowhere. It was pitch black, pitch black. The heat was excruciating," Bostic explained.

Emergency personnel said they couldn't enter the blazing home because of the "intensity of the fire."

"Nicholas wrapped his shirt around his mouth and nose and plunged into the blackness," the city of Lafayette said in a statement. "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."

He was able to locate the 6-year-old girl, but the only exit available was through a window on the second floor.

"I grabbed her and held her snug and I ran up those stairs like a running back for the Colts. I jumped out that window," Bostic said. “I was just pushing time on its edge. I was pushing its limit, literally pushed its limit to the last millisecond. I just got lucky."

Bostic broke the window by punching the glass with his bare hands.

Dramatic police bodycam video shows the moment that Bostic emerged from the daunting scene carrying the child away from the blaze.

Lafayette body camera footage of fire rescue www.youtube.com

Bodycam footage shows an officer tending to Bostic's injuries, including applying a tourniquet to stop the bleeding.

Bostic asks emergency personnel, "Is the baby OK? Please tell me that baby's OK."

\u201cMORE:\n\nBostic: "Is the baby OK? Please tell me that baby's OK."\u201d
— Joe Paul (@Joe Paul) 1657827105

Police noted that the 6-year-old was "miraculously mostly uninjured."

Bostic was seriously injured in the frantic rescue, suffering from severe smoke inhalation, burns, and cuts on his arms and legs. Bostic was flown to a hospital in Indianapolis. Bostic has since been released after several days of treatment.

"The front of my hand, it's cut up pretty bad," Bostic said. "They rewrapped it before I left. But I got a cut right here, a possible severed tendon. The bottom of my hands are blistered like I grabbed something hot. I recall seeing flames through the window as I was punching it out."

"Waking up every morning I have something to remind me of why I'm here, still alive. Why God keeps me here," Bostic told News 18, according to Fox News. "He used me like his instrument that night."

Bostic was recognized for his heroic actions by the Lafayette Police Department, the Lafayette Fire Department, and Lafayette Mayor Tony Roswarski.

“Nicholas Bostic’s heroic actions saved lives. His selflessness during this incident is inspiring, and he has impressed many with his courage, tenacity, and steadfast calmness in the face of such perilous danger,” the city of Lafayette said in a statement.

The fire was ruled accidental, but is still under investigation.

Lafayette man rescues 5 people from burning home www.youtube.com

Washington teenager's pig fetches $95,000 at county fair — and cancer-stricken teen will donate half to charity



A teen's pig took a $95,000 prize at Washington's Asotin County Fair on Saturday, and the young man and his family are donating at least half of it to a cancer charity.

What are the details?

According to a report from the Lewiston Tribune, 18-year-old Asotin High School senior Bryson Stein — who has been battling cancer for the last several years — brought his pig to the fair and met some seriously generous bidders.

The teen suffers from synovial cell sarcoma, and was first diagnosed when he was just 13 years old.

Ahead of Saturday's bidding, Bryson and his family announced that they would donate half of the pig's winnings to a cancer charity in honor of the teen's battle.

The bidding began and quickly increased from $40 per pound to $100 per pound — and then jumped even higher.

"With everyone in the arena on their feet and clapping, the four bidders who had been battling decided to go in together and bought the pig for $400 per pound," the report noted.

The pig, named Cabala, ended up taking the record-breaking prize, raking in $95,000 for the teen and his family.

Bryson told the outlet on Sunday that the bidding war was "awesome."

"Everyone was going crazy, everyone was standing up and cheering," he said. "It was pretty cool."

Bryson's father, Craig, added, "I thought it would go to about $30 a pound or something; I had no idea how big it would get. Thank God our community is a great community ... All those people who did it are just incredible."

"Honestly, there wasn't a dry eye in the building," Craig added. "Everybody and anybody was crying. It was heartfelt for sure ... Bryson is one of the strongest kids I know. It couldn't happen to a nicer kid. It's good for him, good for the community, and hopefully we're going to help some cancer patients and cancer research."

What else?

Bryson — who plans to become an oncologist after high school — said that he plans to invest the remainder of his earnings.

"I don't plan on buying anything," he added.

Man searches for years to find family of child cancer patient in order to give them painting she made before her death



A Texas resident has returned a beautiful piece of artwork to its late creator's parents, sparking warm emotions and memories of the 8-year-old girl who created it.

What are the details?

A KOKH-TV report detailed that Jim Higgins, who purchased a painting from an auction in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, that was sponsored by the Oklahoma University Children's Hospital, decided to return the painting to the child artist's parents following her death.

Higgins purchased the piece — a collage-style painting created by an 8-year-old girl named Hope — approximately 10 years ago, saying that it was "one of the best ones" at the auction.

Higgins said that he met the child's parents at the auction and learned that their daughter suffered from a rare and terminal form of brain cancer.

Just a few years after the auction, Hope passed away — and keeping up to date on his donation to the children's hospital, Higgins decided to embark on a journey to reunite the painting with Hope's parents.

It took him nearly four years, however, before he was able to track down the family, and decided to enlist the help of a local TV station.

Feeling that he was running out of options, he reached out to KOKH, who ultimately helped track down Hope's parents, Chad and Bridget Dollarhide.

Within hours of Higgins' request, KOKH was able to get a hold of the Dollarhide family and set up a reunion with Higgins.

The family met with their benefactor on Wednesday and received their late daughter's artwork.

Bridget said that having her daughter's artwork returned was moving beyond compare.

"That gives me such a warm feeling," she told the station. "She's still spreading her brand of hope even though she's not with us anymore."

Bridget said that she fondly remembers Hope's process in creating the artwork.

"She had so much fun," Bridget told the station. "That was like the highlight of her days in the hospital was working on that."

While the pain of losing a loved never really goes away, sometimes help and healing can still appear in unexpected ways.\n\nTonight at 9: How a surprise gift from a stranger brought hope back to this Oklahoma family. @OKCFOXpic.twitter.com/tsci7UKdez
— Rebecca Pryor (@Rebecca Pryor) 1642633263