Eighty-one-year-old Jim Hodkins, with his wife, Bertha, survived a fire outbreak in their home in Sibley.
Jim, a Missouri man, jumped from the second floor to escape, broke his leg in the fall, then managed to crawl back into the house to rescue his wife.
The fire at Jim and Bertha’s home broke out on a Friday morning, local media reported.
Fighter fighters said Jim woke up and realised the house was on fire, but couldn’t get downstairs because the first floor was already engulfed in flames.
His wife Bertha suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, said Ed Winfrey, who owns the home and has rented to the couple for several years, according to KMBC.com.
“I heard the sirens, and when I stepped out of my house about a quarter of a mile from here I saw the smoke and came over to investigate,” Winfrey said.
He said he found Jim sitting in a chair, clearly in pain, while Bertha was safe inside the couple’s car.
The elderly couple were treated at a local hospital, where Jim was listed in fair condition and Bertha was in critical but stable condition, according to KSHB.com. In addition to Jim’s broken leg, both were treated for smoke inhalation.
Winfrey said the home, which was built in 1850 and survived the Civil War, will have to be torn down. The cause of the fire was yet to be reported.
Source: www.ndaily.com