A heroic firefighter rescued a two-year-old boy trapped inside a burning apartment in Texas on Sunday. Firefighter Jonathan Head, responding to the blaze with the Grandbury Volunteer Fire Department, followed the toddler’s desperate cries, breaking a second-floor bedroom window to reach the child.
The rescue occurred early Sunday morning, as reported by the New York Post. Despite thick black smoke and flames obstructing his view, the firefighter pushed through a window and located the boy, Liam Keen, by following a reassuring sound.
“Every time he cried, that’s where I went,” Head told CBS.
“I brushed up against him and he let out a scream. So I knew I was on him. I picked him up out of pure excitement – that he was actually moving around…obviously crying is a good sign.”
The harrowing rescue of two-year-old Liam was captured on bodycam footage.
His mother, Phylicia Keen, was awakened by breaking glass and saw flames on her Grandbury balcony. She managed to grab her 4-year-old son and alert neighbors but was unable to re-enter the building due to thick smoke, according to CBS.
Upon arrival, the fire crew grabbed a ladder and rushed to the side of the building where Liam was trapped.
Head then used an ax to smash the window and carried Liam to safety.
“What goes through our head — as firefighters is it gonna be the same outcome that we see 80% of the time,” Granbury Fire Captain Bradley Snyder told CBS.
“But not this time. Just a few moments later, they manage to pull Liam through the window alive…I’ve been doing this for 22 years and this is literally the first time I saw it go the right way.”
Liam was taken to Cooks Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth and treated for carbon monoxide poisoning. He is expected to make a full recovery.
His mother expressed gratitude to the first responders for their brave and quick actions that saved her son.
“They are amazing heroes,” Keen told the outlet.
“Angels don’t get recognized enough. They hit the ground running and they didn’t stop.”