At just five years old, Noah Woods didn’t have time to be scared. He had a little sister to save.
In the middle of the night in Bartow County, Georgia, Noah woke up to smoke and flames filling the bedroom he shared with his 2-year-old sister.
The fire, later traced back to an overloaded electrical outlet, had already cut off their usual way out.
Without hesitating, Noah grabbed his sister and got them both out through the only exit available, an open window.
Most adults would call that enough. Noah didn’t stop there.
He ran back into the burning house to pull the family dog to safety.
Then he sprinted next door to his uncle’s home for help, giving the rest of his family, nine people in total, including Noah himself, the precious seconds they needed to get out safely.
Everyone made it. Firefighters treated Noah and four other family members for minor burns and smoke inhalation, but no lives were lost, human or animal.
“We’ve seen children alert their families before,” Bartow County Fire Department Chief Dwayne Jamison told CNN, “but for a 5-year-old to be alert enough to do this… that’s pretty extraordinary.”
Noah’s grandfather, David Woods, put it simply in a GoFundMe post set up to help the family rebuild after losing their home: “By the grace of God, all nine of our loved ones were able to get out of our home. If it wasn’t for Noah, we may not be here today.”
On Friday, the Bartow County Fire Department is set to name Noah an honorary firefighter and present him with a lifesaving award usually reserved for trained professionals.
Even Georgia Governor Brian Kemp took notice, sending a letter to be read aloud at the ceremony.
What stands out most, though, isn’t just that Noah saved his family. It’s that in the middle of chaos, going back for the dog wasn’t even a question in his mind.
To him, that dog was family too, and that’s exactly how so many of us feel about the animals we love.
A five-year-old just showed the whole world what real courage looks like.
Would your child have gone back for the family pet?
Source:
cnn – “He pulled his sister out a window in a house fire and went back in to save the family dog. He’s 5 years old”