Nurse Called Hero After Pulling Elderly Woman From Burning Home
Published: July 30, 2007
It was a long night for firefighters in Monroe, after an elderly woman on oxygen apparently lit a cigarette, causing an explosion.
The fire happened around 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mount Pleasant Retirement village on Seminary Drive.
Luckily, a visiting nurse was in the home at the time, a caretaker everyone is now calling a hero.
Firefighters were prepared for the worst: heavy smoke and flames shooting through the roof of a ranch home in the Mount Pleasant Retirement Village.
The cause: an elderly woman on oxygen lit a cigarette, sparking an explosion.
“She was smoking and is on oxygen near tanks in her house, the original house we got was for oxygen tanks on fire inside the house,” said Assistant Chief John Centers with the Monroe Fire Department.
But what they didn’t know was there was a visiting angel, literally.
Jinny, the woman’s nurse and caretaker, is with the “Visiting Angels” home health care agency. It was her first day visiting Joyce and Robert Getter. Jinny was doing dishes when she heard the explosion and ran to find 78-year-old Joyce on fire in the bedroom.
Witnesses say she pulled Getter out from the back of the house on this sheet and cushion, and also helped 93-year-old robert getter escape the flames.
“It is a little more difficult for older people that may be wheel chair-dependent and may not be able to ambulate to get in and out of places,” said Centers. “They were fortunate they had a neighbor that could get them out without that, we may be dealing with a little different situation than we have right now.”
Joyce Getter was flown by Care Flight medical helicopter to Miami Valley Hospital, where she is in critical condition. Robert Getter was treated at the scene, and the caretaker, who everyone knows only as Jinny, was taken to the hospital with minor burns on her hand and foot.
Witnesses call her a hero.
“We came probably about 10 minutes afterwards but the whole house was in flames, the trucks were already out here and the caregiver that got burned had already pulled out the lady,” witness Dennis Oszakiewski.
“She said she pulled her out, if she hadn’t of, I don’t know, I don’t think she’d be here,” said Kenya Wells, another victim. “She’s a hero, she is a godsend for being here.”
As the paramedics were wheeling Jinny to an ambulance, a few of the neighbors clapped for her. She just hid her face, clearly uncomfortable with the attention.
9 News Reporter Lynn Giroud did talk to Mr. Getter; he was still shaken, but was able to say simply that the nurse was his hero.
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: