A two-year-old boy trapped inside a burning apartment building in Texas was rescued by a heroic firefighter who followed the sounds of the helpless toddler’s desperate cries.
Firefighter Jonathan Head sprang into action and shattered the second floor bedroom window in search of the distressed toddler moments after the Grandbury Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the vicious blaze early Sunday morning.
With thick black smoke and flames obstructing his sight, Head pushed his way through the window and managed to find the boy — Liam Keen — after hearing 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 was captured on bodycam footage.
Liam’s mother, Phylicia Keen, was awoken to the sound of glass breaking and panicked when she saw flames ravaging her Grandbury balcony – only able to grab her 4-year-old son before bolting out of the apartment to notify her neighbors, CBS reported.
The distraught mother attempted to re-enter the building but the smoke was too thick.
The fire crew, upon arrival, grabbed a ladder and rushed to the side of the building where Liam was before Head used an ax to smash the window and carry 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, the outlet reported.
With her son expected to make a full recovery, Keen is thankful for the first responders whose brave and quick response 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.”
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