Not all heroes wear capes, and sometimes, they come in the form of a 7-year old who shows more bravery than most adult people.
That night on December 9th of 2020 was just an ordinary one for a family of five residing in New Tazewell, Tennessee. Mom and dad Nicole and Chris Davidson put their three kids to bed and nothing spoke trouble as they headed to their bedroom themselves.
Deep into the night, Nicole was suddenly woken up by the smell of smoke. In the next moment, she realized the house was on fire. The flames started spreading really quickly and she and her husband managed to get two of the kids out, while the youngest one, 22-month-old Erin, was still trapped in her room.
“The smoke and fire was so thick there was no way I could get to her,” Chris Davidson said, according to CNN.
“I thought I couldn’t do it, but then I said, ‘I got her, dad,'” the boy says. “I was scared, but I didn’t want my sister to die.” https://t.co/4MCXvCHqDR
— CNN (@CNN) December 27, 2020
But then, as they thought Erin wouldn’t be able to get out of the burning place, her 7-year-old brother Eli stepped in and saved the day by saving her life. It was a tense situation that required a lot of courage.
“We went outside to get to her from the window, but there was nothing for me to stand on to reach up there,” Chris explained. “So I picked up Eli, who went through the window and was able to grab her from her crib.”
At the time the firefighters arrived, the house was no longer there, the flames caught up everything, but at least no one from the family members suffered any serious injuries. They all made it out alive.
Speaking to CNN, the hero of the day, Eli, said, “I thought I couldn’t do it, but then I said, ‘I got her, dad’. I was scared, but I didn’t want my sister to die.”
Nicole and Chris are former firefighters themselves. They have fostered 34 children throughout the years, including Eli, and the two others that were in the house that night are their adopted children.
“We lost everything that we have ever had,” Chris said.“Our entire lives were in that home. Our three cars were also damaged in the fire. It’s devastating. We have nothing. You have never been as humble as you are when you don’t even have your own underwear to wear.”
A GoFundMe page was set up for the Davidsons and so far, over $350,000 have been raised.