A Colorado family is grateful this Christmas for the bravery of their children who escaped a burning home this week.
A fire started in the home when the children’s parents were not there. Eight-year-old Grayson, who has Down syndrome, called his 14-year-old sister repeatedly to get out of the basement and escape their burning home. He yelled, “Ava, Ava!” according to his mother, and yelled again, “Ava, Ava” down the stairwell.
Officers had to tear down a wooden fence to access the home and reach the children, who were crying in their backyard. A bodycam video of the rescue shows firefighters bravely approaching the children and the burning building. In the video, smoke and flames can be seen escaping the home.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Sheriff deputies rescue two children from backyard of burning home.
On December 1 just before noon, Deputy McConnell and Deputy Calderon responded to a house fire in the 4800 block of S. Gibraltar Ln. in Centennial. When they arrived, they saw heavy smoke inside and outside the… pic.twitter.com/rAkQ739ufl
— Arapahoe Sheriff (@ArapahoeSO) December 2, 2024
According to the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office on X, “On December 1 just before noon, Deputy McConnell and Deputy Calderon responded to a house fire in the 4800 block of S. Gibraltar Ln. in Centennial. When they arrived, they saw heavy smoke inside and outside the home and discovered there were two children in the backyard, ages 8 and 14. The children told them there was no one else inside the home.
“The deputies, unable to enter the backyard through a blocked gate, were able to gain access through a neighbor’s home and tore down part of the wood fence with their hands. The children made their way towards them and the deputies were able to lift them through the fence and carry them to safety. Both deputies both suffered smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene by paramedics.”
Multiple scenes of the out-of-control fire and the brave firefighters who rescued the children are available on social media. In one video, Grayson can be heard telling the deputies, “My room’s on fire.” When one officer handed him to the other, he told Greyson, “I’m gonna pass you to my buddy, ok?” to which Greyson replied, “Hi, buddy.”
This is the body worn camera video of Deputy McConnell and Deputy Calderon rescuing two children from the backyard of a burning home in Centennial before firefighters arrived. The fire happened on December 1. The cause of the fire is under investigation by @SouthMetroPIO. pic.twitter.com/n6l7Px0PDI
— Arapahoe Sheriff (@ArapahoeSO) December 2, 2024
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The children’s parents were nearby visiting a relative, not realizing that the smoke they saw in the neighborhood was from their own home.
As previously reported by Live Action News, “About 67 percent of children diagnosed with Down syndrome before birth are aborted in the United States.” There is a lot of work to do to change the narrative about Down syndrome, its diagnosis, and expectations for those who live with the condition.
Most mothers have said that receiving the diagnosis was a negative experience, and 13% of doctors have admitted they focus on the negative in order to get the mother to choose abortion. Those with disabilities have decried the fact that they are targeted before birth. Many parents, like Greyson’s, have found that “doom and gloom” is not the fate of a family who has a child with Down syndrome or other disability.
“[Greyson] kind of saved her life. He’s our hero,” the children’s mother told local news.
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