90-year-old Oklahoma woman reunites with the four teens who rescued her from her burning hom
A 90-year-old Oklahoma woman reunites with the four teens who rescued her from her burning home, and calls them 'special.'
A 90-year-old Oklahoma woman reunited Wednesday with four neighborhood teens who rescued her from her burning home in Sapulpa last month.
The teens returned to the scene three weeks after saving Catherine Ritchie, who was in her bathroom getting ready for bed when she noticed the bed's headboard was engulfed in flames. Ritchie said she tried to put the fire out herself by throwing blankets and pillows on the flames, but the smoke grew so thick that she was soon disorientated in the home where she'd lived for 58 years.
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"The smoke was so bad, I couldn't see to get out of my room. I felt along the wall, and I went into the closet instead of the door to get out of the room. I finally did get to the door," Ritchie told Tulsa’s KTUL-TV. She called 911 and hit her emergency call button, but she managed to get only to the hallway before losing her way in the smoke again.
"The smoke was so bad, I couldn't see to get out of my room. I felt along the wall, and I went into the closet instead of the door to get out of the room. I finally did get to the door."
The boys, ages 14 to 17, had been hanging out across the street when they noticed the house was on fire. Dylan Wick, 16, Nick Byrd, 14, Seth Byrd, 16, and Wyatt Hall, 17, jumped into action. One went to the back door, one went to the front door, one ran to a neighbor for an ax and a fourth called 911, the station reported.
The 14-year-old finally was able to get inside where he found Ritchie, picked her up and got her to safety.
"I just kind of heard her. I went to the right of the house and no one was there. I went to the left of the house, and I saw her in the hallway, so I just grabbed her and took her to Seth," Nick Byrd said.
"I saw her in the hallway, so I just grabbed her."
All four boys and the elderly woman made it out of the fire without any injuries. Firefighters arrived shortly after to put out the flames.
"Ever since that night, my life has just changed... For the better," Hall said Wednesday as he looked at the burned mattress in Ritchie's bedroom.
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The woman's daughter wrote a blog post thanking the young men for giving Ritchie's 10 children and 42 grandchildren more time with their beloved matriarch.
“Kids who are told about all the things they aren’t old enough to do saved the life of the most precious and beloved woman we know,” Missy Ritchie Nicholas wrote. “We will forever be indebted to the time you bought for us and the example you set for us."
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