'Good samaritans' credited with saving child from fire

A one-year-old boy is alive, all thanks to the work of a good Samaritan who went inside a burning home to get him out.

26-year-old LaDonna Thomas was at a pizza place on the 3900 block of Boulevard Place, when a man banged on the door and said there was a fire next door.

“I seen the woman screaming, ‘My son is in there,’” said Thomas.

Thomas and other neighbors ran around to the back of the home, trying to get inside.

“The back of the house was engulfed in flames and smoke, and I went into the house because I could hear the little boy crying,” said Thomas.

But they couldn't get in through the flames, so they moved around to the front of the house, breaking windows as they went.

“He had stopped talking, then he started screaming again, ‘Mommy please help me.’”

Thomas says she finally just kicked in the front door, and crawled inside on her hands and knees, calling to the boy. Firefighters say a man who lives in the neighborhood also helped in the rescue of the baby.

“Midways, in the front room, when he grabbed a hold of me, I snatched him up. We came out the front door,” said Thomas.

That was just in time.

“Seconds after we come out, the whole house, was engulfed… it just started coming out the front,” added Thomas.

LaDonna says his life was worth more than anything.

“Honestly, yeah, I was willing to die for that child today. Even if I just got to him and we could just hold each other… he wasn’t going alone,” she added. “I know how it feels to bury a child. It’s a pain you can’t get over. I wouldn’t want to see no mother feel that pain.”

She says she did what she did simply for that family.

“I didn’t need the recognition. Him holding me, and looking at me, letting me know he's ok… was enough recognition for me,” she said.

The only reason we found LaDonna was because she came back to the home hours later, to try to give this family some of her extra clothes. The mother and son inside the home at the time were brought to Wishard hospital in good condition.

We know the mother has since been released.

At this point, LaDonna and this family haven't yet met, but we're hoping they do at some point. We will keep you posted.

As far as the family, the mother was home at the time with a one-year-old and a four-year-old. The mother told firefighters she believed her four-year-old may have started the fire by playing with a lighter.