Pasan Nanayakkara
On a recent evening in Aberdeen, Washington, a fire broke out in a home where Derrick Byrd and six other family members were inside. Byrd caught his nephews, Junior and Royce, when they jumped from a window on the second floor. However, his eight-year-old niece Mercedes was too afraid to jump after watching her mother, Kayla, fall from the roof.
Without hesitation, Byrd ran back into the burning house to rescue Mercedes. “I could feel it burning me,” he said of the flames. He managed to grab Mercedes and wrap his shirt around her face to protect her from the smoke. He carried her out of the house as quickly as he could.
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Despite suffering injuries in the fire, Byrd said that he would do it all again if he had to. “I’d run back in there and do it again even if I got burnt worse or died,” he said. When asked about being called a hero, Byrd modestly replied, “I can’t say a hero. I’d just say for my niece and nephews, I wasn’t going to let them die.”
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Byrd’s actions are truly admirable, and he is a genuine hero. In moments of crisis, people’s true colors are revealed, and Byrd has certainly shown himself to be brave and selfless. We wish him a speedy recovery and hope that he and his family are able to move on from this terrible ordeal.
