This Philadelphian man did everything in his power to keep his bedridden mother safe while a building was on fire.
In July 2019, Jermaine, who was then 35, received a call from his sister informing him that his mother’s apartment building was on fire.
Sheila, their 65-year-old mother, was bedridden, so they were aware that she would need assistance to leave her apartment on the 15th floor.
Rushing straight to the 19-story Westpark Apartments, Jermaine made an attempt to enter through the main entrance. But when he got there, the police had already blocked it.
Authorities informed him that the elevators were broken, so he decided to take the steps to check on the safety of her ailing and bedridden mother.
They needed to go up there, Jermaine told them. Unfortunately, the cops were powerless to change the laws for him. He was prevented from entering.
But Jermaine, a wonderful son, took it upon himself to protect his mother.
“Nothing is off bounds. In one interview, he identified her as his mother.
Jermaine was using crutches because he had broken his hip earlier in the day while climbing some stairs. Nevertheless, adrenaline overcame his agony and bruises as he climbed up the building’s fenced-in balconies.
He boldly ascended, wire cutters in hand, with just one purpose in mind: to make sure his mother was safe.
Fortunately, Jermaine had lived there before and was familiar with the layout of the facility.
“When I grabbed a gate, there was a ledge at the top of the gate. I could reach out to the other gate and continue to climb up from there,” he replied, stepping onto the ledge.
He was unaware that Sheila was on the 15th floor. He would reach her despite the intimidating heights and severe gusts.
All for my mother’s safety, end of story. Concerning mine, I was unconcerned at all. If there is a fire, she needs assistance since she is unable to walk or get out of bed, Jermaine added.
After some time, he finally reached Sheila’s balcony. When she saw her son outside of her apartment, she told him that the fire had been put out and she was safe.
Sheila was astonished, but she refrained from yelling at him for scaling 15 stories without a harness or other safety measures.
She became more startled. The things I do for her are nothing new to her. I’ll go above and above for her, she knows,” Jermaine remarked.
Jermaine then scaled back down the apartment building in less than three minutes, like a real-life Spider-Man, in the same amount of time it took him to reach the 15th story.
It turned out that he had experience climbing walls.
Jermaine used to jump off roofs as a young boy and worked as a roofer and construction worker. But even for a skilled someone like him, this activity is still dangerous.
He said, “Glad I had the practice.”
Jermaine was positive he would be detained as soon as he got near to the ground. But a policeman who understood why he had broken protocol allowed him to escape punishment.
He warned me that I would go to jail if I didn’t leave. as it was his responsibility. He did, however, give me a break. He was aware of the situation and was aware that you would do everything to save your mother when your adrenaline is running and you believe she is about to die, Jermaine recounted.
Later, it was determined that the fire originated from a trash compactor, and that smoke entered the upper floors via a waste chute.
Sheila, along with many other occupants of the complex, were fortunate to escape unharmed. The effects of smoke inhalation were treated in a hospital by four citizens and three firefighters.
Jermaine claimed he had once applied to be a firefighter but had never received a response.
Watch the interview with Jermaine in the video below.
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