A Washington man is rightfully being hailed a hero after charging into a burning home to save his eight-year-old niece.
Reports detail how 20-year-old Derrick Byrd suffered second and third-degree burns on his face, back, and arms, having rushed into the building when he became aware his niece was trapped.
Speaking to KOMO-TV, he said: “Even though I got burnt, I really didn’t care, though. I’d rather get burnt than her. She’s young. She’s still got a lot of stuff going for her. She’s a good kid.”
The fire, at a home in Aberdeen, Washington is believed to have started while Byrd and six other family members were inside, including his sister, Kayla, and her three children.
Byrd caught his nephews, Junior and Royce, when they jumped from a window on the second floor. His eight-year-old niece Mercedes, however, was too afraid to jump after having watched Kayla fall from the roof.
Without thinking, Byrd dashed back into the house to rescue her. Within moments, he could feel the flames on him.
“I could feel it burning me,” he explained.
“I got her and took my shirt off and put it around her face so she wouldn’t breathe in any smoke and I just carried her out as fast as I could.”
True hero
What’s more, despite suffering injuries, Byrd said he would do it again if he had to.
“I’d run back in there and do it again even if I got burnt worse or died.”
Commenting on all those dubbing him a hero, he simply replied: “I can’t say a hero. I’d just say for my niece and nephews, I wasn’t going to let them die.”
What a genuine hero Derrick Byrd truly is. In moments like that, people’s true colours are shown, and Derrick can certainly be proud of his.
The Saga of My Husband, My Mom, and Rent: A Family Drama
Oh, the pleasures of family dynamics; those complex networks of affection, animosity, and, it seems, rent. What if I told you a small story from the front lines of my own soap opera to start things off?
Imagine this: Dad recently passed away and went to the great beyond, leaving Mom sad and alone. So, of course, I propose that she move in with us, partly out of compassion and partly out of sheer guilt. You know, to socialize with the grandchildren and take in the warmth of family.
Now enter my spouse, who has obviously been attending the “How to Be a Loving Family Man” course. His initial response was a firm no, but after some deft haggling on my part, he reluctantly agreed—but only under one condition. The worst part, get ready: my distraught mother would have to pay the rent.
You did really read correctly. Pay rent. in a home that we currently own and are not renting. Start the crying or laughing. His logic? He replied, grinning in a way that I can only characterize as evil, “Your mother is a leech.” “After she moves in with us, she won’t go.”
His reasoning continued, a train on the loose about to crash down a precipice. She simply doesn’t make sense to utilize anything for free when she will consume our food and electricity. This residence is not a hotel, and she has to know that!
With my blood boiling, I knew something was wrong. The reason for this issue is that I wedded a man who seemed to believe he was the Ritz-Carlton’s management. How daring! Here we are, with equal rights to the house, having both contributed to its acquisition, and he’s enacting capitalist regulations as if we were operating a profit-making Airbnb.
The worst part is that my spouse isn’t a horrible person. Really, no. He and my mother have simply disagreed from the beginning. He told me the truth about how he really felt the night he turned into Mr. Rent Collector. “Ever since I met her, your mother has detested me. She wouldn’t feel at ease living with me right now.
I am therefore torn between my mother, who is in great need of her daughter’s support, and my husband, whom I really love despite his imperfections. I ask you, dear reader, the million-dollar question: What should I do? In true dramatic manner. Shall I rent my mother a room or my husband’s empathy?
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