A 70-year-old veteran with cancer has been hailed as a hero, after rescuing a couple from their burning home in an act of selfless courage.
According to a report by KMOV St. Louis, Vietnam veteran Marshall Helms was escorting his young grandaughter to catch her school bus at approximately 7.30 am, on Wednesday 21, in the town of Salem in Illinois.
When the school bus driver alerted Helms to a nearby building that appeared to be ablaze, Helms leaped into action despite his old age and health conditions, braving the smoke and flames to pull his neighbors, Gary and Kathy Benjamin, out of the property.
The Benjamins had been asleep when their home caught fire, but thanks to the efforts of the former B-29 mechanic, they were able to escape through a back door, sustaining only minor injuries caused by smoke inhalation while their house burned.
Take a look at this news report on the incident in the video below:Commenting on the incident in an interview with KMOV, Helms stated:
Recently, another amazing army veteran in El Paso managed to pull two children to safety:"Bus driver hung out the door and tried to get my attention and he said 'fire, fire, fire.' And I looked over here and sure enough, I saw a fire coming through that window.
"I was hollering: 'Fire! Fire! You got to get out of here! Anybody in here?' And I kept repeating: 'is anybody in here?'''
According to a report by McGill Media, the fire is believed to have been caused by a heating lamp used for baby chickens.
It went on to gut the Benjamins' garage, while their bathroom and living room have also been partially burned.
The family has also lost one of their family dogs, Sophia, and their two Siamese cats Snicklefritz and Cocoa, according to a GoFundMe page set up by Nicholas Benjamin, the son of Gary and Kathy to help fund the repairs needed on the property.
In the fundraiser's description, Nicholas wrote:
"Marshall forced entry into my parents home past burning flames, putting his own life at risk, and awoke them and helped them to escape. I can never thank him enough for that. He will always be in our debt. He is a true hero."