When Windell Paul saw his home on fire, he did not think twice about rushing into the flames to save his 19-year-old son
Fortunately, Paul’s son, Marlo, was spending Sunday night at his stepmother’s home a short distance away.
However, the heroic act left the Moruga father severely injured, suffering burns to his hands, legs and head.
He barely made it out of the crumbling wood and concrete house alive and was in a critical condition at the San Fernando General Hospital up to yesterday.
“Well, they said he is still out. His head swollen and they have cords down inside him, pulling out black stuff, and there is some black thing coming out from his ears too, like liquid,” Pattinson Paul told Guardian Media yesterday.
Pattinson, Paul’s brother, said they lost everything, and the family is worried.
The blaze began around 10.45 pm on Sunday, while Paul was staying at his produce stall, just a short distance away from his home along Samuel Street, Basse Terre.
When Paul heard a crackling sound, he immediately looked up and saw the home that he and his siblings grew up in, ablaze. Believing that Marlo was inside, he rushed in.
“My brother said that he heard some fire noise, he came up because he was right down the hill in a market stall that he owns. When he came up here, he saw the fire and ran in to see if his son was there. When he came out, he started to say he got burned up, and everything got burned up.
As the house burned, Paul sat on the roadside, in pain and worried about his son. Marlo eventually came to his father’s side before an ambulance took him for treatment. Pattinson said doctors had to sedate Paul before inserting tubes into his lungs.
Princes Town firefighters extinguished the fire before it spread to neighbouring houses. Fire prevention officers visited the ruins of the house on Monday as they investigate the cause of the fire.
Pattinson said it was like his brother to sacrifice himself for his family.
“My brother is a good person. I would have done that too if I knew my family was inside there.”
He said Paul’s sibling and five children were all worried and hoping that he recovers soon.