Nick Bostic, 25, of Lafayette, was driving early July 11 in the northwest Indiana town when he saw a house on fire. He stopped and ran inside to alert his residents. “I braked, turned the wheel, did a 180. I ran to the back of the house and was yelling for nobody. Four faces, three or four faces, came out on top,” he told WLFI-TV. An 18-year-old woman was at home caring for her three siblings, ages 1, 6 and 13, along with a 13-year-old friend of the 13-year-old brother, while the parents of the four siblings were out playing darts, the Washington Post reported. Bostic said the 18-year-old was able to get three of the children out, but told him one child was still missing, prompting him to search the smoke-filled home for that child. “I heard a faint cry and I went down there until I found this baby,” she said. Because of the thick smoke, he said his only option was to climb out of a second-story window. Bostic punched through the window 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 on her leg. Police body camera video captured the aftermath of the jump, with Bostic illuminated by the burning house and walking toward first responders, the girl in his arms. In the video, a police officer picks up the crying child while Bostic — who is gasping and wheezing, with a bruised right arm and blood on his clothes — sits on the curb saying, “I need oxygen.” After an officer helps Bostic to a safer spot across the street, a tourniquet is placed on his arm after he lies on the grass. Bostic then asks, “Is the baby okay? Please tell me the baby is okay’ before someone off-camera assures him that the child is fine. “You did good mate, okay?” an officer tells Bostic. Bostic, who suffered smoke inhalation in addition to his hand injury and other injuries, was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital and released two days later. He said he is no hero and just did what anyone would want to do for him and his family if their house was on fire. “It was all worth it. I kept reminding myself what a small sacrifice. This temporary pain … is so worth it,” he told WLFI-TV. A GoFundMe page set up for Bostic to help pay his hospital bills and medical services had raised more than $470,000 as of Wednesday afternoon, far surpassing the $100,000 goal. David Barrett, the father of the four brothers, told the Washington Post that his family feels “very blessed for what Nick did.” “He’s a real hero and my daughter is a real hero for waking up the kids. I hate to think what might have happened if Nick hadn’t shown up. I am grateful beyond words,” he said. Lafayette Fire Chief Brian Alkire told the (Lafayete) Journal & Courier that the fire started on the front porch of the home in the city about 65 miles (105 kilometers) northwest of Indianapolis. Police said the fire remains under investigation.
