A pizza delivery driver has been hailed as a hero after rescuing five kids trapped in a burning building.
Nicholas Bostic, 25, sustained serious injuries while ignoring his own safety to save two children and three teens as their home burned to a cinder around them.
After the daring rescue, he was flown to hospital in Indianapolis and treated for severe smoke inhalation and a massive wound to his right arm, according to Louisiana's Lafayette Police Department.
Giving his report to police in hospital, Bostic recalled he was driving past the home on July 11 when he saw it was consumed with flames.
Without a phone on his person and unable to contact 911, Bostic decided he needed to act quickly if anyone inside had a chance of surviving.
Heading straight to the house, he entered the building through the back door where he shouted to get the attention of whoever was inside.
Receiving no reply, he made his way through the home and eventually reached the first floor where he found a one-year-old baby and three teens, aged between 13 and 18.
Shaylee Barrett, the 13-year-old who would've surely died had Bostic not saved her and her siblings, told the Purdue Exponent : "For a minute I didn’t understand it, but my sister ran upstairs with the baby in her hands and yelling at us to get up because there’s a fire.
“And for a minute I froze and I laid there because I was confused. That’s when we went downstairs and Nick was downstairs helping us.”
After getting four of the kids to safety, he was told there was a six-year-old still inside.
Police said that "without hesitation" the delivery driver "ran back into the burning house."
The hero said the lower level of the house was like a "black lagoon" due to the thick, acrid smoke laying heavy on the ground.
He added that he felt like he was "walking into an oven" when he returned to rescue the last child.
He had to crawl around the house on his belly - using his hands to guide his way in the low visibility conditions.
Speaking with a local journalist, Bostic said he had accepted that he would "probably die" that night.
As he entered the building to retrieve the last youngster, he said he used her voice to guide him through the infernal scene.
When he reached the upper floors he broke a window by "punching it with his bare hand" before leaping out with the child in his arms.
He broke their fall by landing on his side and, thankfully, the little one was "miraculously mostly uninjured", according to the press release.
A fire department investigation determined the blaze was likely started after a bucket of ashes wasn't extinguished properly on the back poch, the Lafayette Journal & Courier reports.
Parents David and Tiera Barrett were stunned when they returned from their date night to find emergency vehicles lining the street outside their home.
Speaking with the Exponent, David said: "I literally told him he’s now part of our family.
“And he was all on board with it. Once we get settled someplace, we’re going to invite him over and his girlfriend for dinner.”
