8-Year-Old Heroic Boy Saves 6 Relatives From Fire But Dies Trying To Save A Seventh
Tyler Doohan is being hailed a hero after saving the lives of 6 relatives from a burning mobile home on January 20, 2014. The young boy died in the fire while trying to save his disabled grandfather.
By Sadho Ram — 25 Jan 2014, 04:52 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
An 8-year-old boy from NY, who fully deserves the term hero, died tragically after having rescued 6 family members from a fire at their trailer home
In his final moments, 8-year-old Tyler Doohan managed to rescue six people -- including two younger children -- from a burning mobile home in upstate New York.
cnn.com
Tyler, his grandfather and his uncle all died after they became trapped inside the buring mobile home early Monday.
Image via nydailynews.comA last-ditch effort, however, to save his disabled grandfather cost the boy his life. His body was found next to his grandfather, whom Tyler considered a best friend.
latinpost.com
"It makes me really proud, it really does, but I just want him back," Tyler's mother, Crystal Vrooman, told CNN affiliate WHAM
Tyler's mother said the boy broke away from his aunt outside the burning trailer and ran back inside to try to save his grandfather.
cnn.com
Tyler Doohan, 8, helped save six people from the burning mobile home before he went back to help his grandfather escape the flames.
Image via nydailynews.comAll I could think about is how he couldn't breathe," Vrooman told WHAM.
She added: "I'm just so grateful that he went with people that he loved. He didn't go alone."
Tyler was staying at the home of relatives in the nearby town of Penfield on Sunday night when he noticed a fire in the single-wide trailer
As firefighters and sheriff's deputies responded to 4:45 a.m. emergency call, Tyler was able to wake six other people in the small trailer, including two more children, ages 4 and 6.
go.com
Then Tyler went back into the blaze to help his grandfather, who was disabled and would have been unable to get out of the home on his own,Penfield Fire Chief Chris Ebmeyer said.
cnn.com
Tyler Doohan, 8, is being hailed a hero after saving the lives of six relatives from a burning mobile home in Penfield, New York on Monday, January 20, 2014
Image via go.com"By that time, the fire had traveled to the back of the trailer," said Ebmeyer. "Unfortunately they both succumbed to heat and smoke."
rt.comThe pair were found together on a bed in the back room
It appeared that the boy was trying to lift his grandfather from the bed when he was overcome by the smoke and fire, the fire chief said. Tyler and his grandfather were like best friends, Vrooman said.
cnn.comThe cause of the blaze is still under investigation but believed to be accidental. The conditions of the six survivors were not immediately available.
Ebmeyer said the trailer had no working smoke detector. He said that with so many people in one small mobile home, one alarm could have easily woken everyone in time to escape.
nydailynews.com
There was at least one space heater inside the trailer, the fire chief said.
Several pets -- including dogs, cats, a rabbit and hamsters -- also died in the fire, Ebmeyer said.
"In bravely and selflessly giving his own life, he was able to save the lives of six others -- and he truly is a hero," East Rochester School District, where Tyler attended fourth grade, issued the statement.
