Son Climbs Up Fifteen Floors To Rescue Bedridden Mother From Blazing Building

Jul 06, 2021 by apost team

The relationship between a mother and her child is probably the strongest bond a human can have. A loving mom would do anything for her children, and as a society, we accept this truth. And while most children would probably do a lot for their mother, it's uncertain whether they'd risk their lives in order to save hers.

But that's exactly what one man from Philadelphia did in 2019 when he risked his own life in an attempt to save his mother. After a fire broke out in an apartment building in the city's west, the man, named Jermaine, arrived at the scene to help his bedridden mother, 65-year-old Sheila, who was still in her apartment on the 15th floor. Police had already cordoned off the building's entrance, stopping Jermaine from being able to go inside and bring her down. 

But rather than accept that answer and hope that the firefighters could control the blaze, Jermaine took matters into his own hands. A construction worker who's familiar with scaffolding and heights, Jermaine used his knowledge and experience to climb up the side of the building. But it wasn't only one story or two he had to climb — Jermaine went all the way up to the 15th floor!

News video footage of the incident looks like a Hollywood movie, except that it was real and Jermaine had no harness or safety net below him. After reaching his mother and ensuring she was fine, Jermaine then had to climb back down the 15 stories he'd just gone up! Following his brave act, Jermaine has been hailed as a hero for risking his own life to save his beloved mother.

It was a Thursday night in July 2019 when Jermaine got the call from his sister that the building where their 65-year-old mother Sheila lived in Philadelphia, Westpark Apartments, was on fire. As she was bedridden, the siblings immediately worried about whether she'd be able to make it out of the building. So Jermaine did the only thing he could, he went there to try and get her out.

Initially, he tried to go through the front entrance, but police told him that the elevators couldn't be used. As he recounted to local news station WPVI-TV later, Jermaine told the officer: "No problem. I'll take the steps." Unfortunately, the officer wouldn't let him into the building at all, for safety reasons, but Jermaine couldn't stand there and do nothing. As he said later:

"I took it upon myself because that's my mother. There's no limits. That's my mother."

That's when Jermaine took it upon himself to climb up to this mother from the outside of the building. With a pair of wire cutters in his hand, Jermaine scaled the fenced-in balconies of the building. He already knew the layout as he'd lived there before and in fact, his work in construction and as a roofer gave him an advantage. Nevertheless, Jermaine climbed 15 stories of the 19-story building in order to reach his mother, which is no small feat, no matter how comfortable one is with heights. 

What's more, Jermaine had cracked his hip earlier that day on some stairs and had been using crutches, but at that moment nothing else mattered. Adrenaline took hold and Jermaine's only goal was to reach his mom and ensure her safety.  

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He described how he managed to climb to the top to news station WPVI-TV:

"When I grabbed a gate, at the top of the gate, there was a ledge. Then I could step on top of the ledge and reach up to the other gate and keep climbing my way up."

Eventually, Jermaine reached his mom, who was more surprised than anything else. Asked if she yelled at him for climbing all the way up, he told reporters:

"She was more shocked. She's not surprised by the things that I do for her. She knows I'll go over and beyond for her."

Thankfully, however, Sheila was fine, as she informed her son that she was ok and that the fire had been contained. That was all Jermaine needed to hear, so without skipping a beat, he set off and climbed back down the way he came!

As he approached the ground, Jermaine saw a crowd of people had gathered including police and the media and he assumed he'd be in trouble. After all, there are rules in place to protect the community, and Jermaine could have seriously injured himself, or even worse, died if he had fallen. But upon reaching the ground and speaking with the police, Jermaine's motivation for helping to save his mother struck a chord with one of the officers, who let him go without arresting him. Jermaine recalled:

"He actually did cut me a break. He understood the circumstances. He knew — when your adrenaline is pumping and your mom is up there, you thinking she's dying — you'd do anything you can."

Thankfully, there were no casualties from the fire, which was believed to have started from a trash compactor. However, seven people, including residents and firefighters, were treated for smoke inhalation. 

Have you ever done something so selfless in order to help save someone you loved? Pass on Jermaine's brave story so that others can hear about it too!