Hero saves baby in blaze (From Stroud News and Journal)

Hero saves baby in blaze

BRAVE Nik Curley has been hailed as a hero after saving a young mother and baby from a burning building.

The quick-thinking dad from Bussage, coaxed the pair down from a first floor window and caught them in his arms despite already suffering from serious spinal injuries suffered in a motorbike crash earlier this year.

Nik, 36, leapt to the rescue when flames enveloped the home of neighbour Nicola Dean, 21, and 19-month-old son Sam on Wednesday, August 21 at about 10.15pm.

The fire is believed to have started in the little boy's bedroom. Fire and police chiefs praised his quick actions.

Without Nik's help, they said, Nicola and Sam might not have survived.

Nik, of Hilltop View, said: "I had been watching TV when I heard shouting through an open window.

"I ran outside to find thick, black smoke bellowing out of a first floor flat."

Nik, who has been off work since the motorbike crash on June 26, saw Nicola leaning out of a window in the flat which she moved into four weeks ago.

He had already met the young mum and knew she had a baby son.

He said: "Nicola was shouting, help me, help me, please help me.

"I knew I had to calm her down and get them both out."

Nik, a former care home nurse for 10 years was accustomed to dealing with difficult events.

However, he said this was the hardest situation he has ever had to face.

"I was coughing and spluttering from the amount of smoke that was pouring out," he said. "I couldn't even see Nicola, but I could hear her screaming.

"I shouted, 'you have got to pass me Sam'. "But she was terrified of letting him fall."

Nik suffered bruising to his brain and spinal injuries after his crash and is unable to return to his delivery business until next year.

He is in constant pain, but he knew he had to catch the little boy.

He said: "I had to tell Nicola I had a hold of him so she would let him go, even though his legs were still a foot away from me.

"As he fell, I tilted him away from the building so he wouldn't fall back into the flames. "Then I took him to my place."

Nik called 999 and told Sam to stay in the house before racing back to Nicola.

He said: "I went running straight back, by which time other people had come out.

"Someone was running around ringing doorbells and someone else was trying to break into the front door of the flat.

"I tried to get Nicola out but she was scared to jump. "It was horrible.

"I got this sinking feeling that she wouldn't come down. "Then I said, Sam's in my place and he needs you. "And she climbed down."

Nik and another neighbour helped Nicola to the ground. After the rescue, which Nik said took about 10 minutes but felt like a lifetime, the emergency services arrived.

He said the fire chief came to shake him by the hand. "I was told, seconds later they would have been dead," said Nik.

"But I just did what anyone else would do. "I don't think I'm a hero."

Sam and Nicola were taken to hospital for treatment for shock and smoke inhalation but were released over the next couple of days.

They are both doing well, though Sam still has nightmares. Nicola said: "I don't know what we would have done without Nik.

"We are very, very grateful to him and all our neighbours." Nearly all Nicola's possessions were destroyed in the fire.

Sgt Clark Atkinson of Stroud police said: "Nicola and Sam are lucky to be alive. There could have quite easily been fatalities."

Jamie Roffe, Stroud fire service sub-officer, said: "Nik did an excellent job. "He did exactly the right thing by not going into the building.

"He is a very good neighbour."