A brave father who ran into a raging inferno to rescue his two sons, has spoken about the ordeal after one of the boys died from his injuries.
34-year-old Nathan Perry was sleeping at his house in Weranga, Queensland on Tuesday, when he woke to find his home filled with smoke and his sons’ bedroom ablaze.
Four-year-old Blade and three-year-old Jeremy quickly became engulfed, but Nathan ran through the flames to rescue his children.
Mr Perry told local news station Nine News:
I knew it was a fire straight away… I guess I made a mistake by opening the door and letting the air in and that’s when it went berserk.
I had to run through the flames and drag the children out. I did what I could. I feel like I failed with Blade because he didn’t make it.
It was the scariest thing I have ever seen in my life. I don’t even want to think about it. It’s going to haunt me forever.
As a consequence of his heroic rescue, Nathan suffered serious burns to his arms, face and legs and along with his sons, was rushed to hospital.
Unfortunately, on Wednesday, Nathan made the difficult decision to turn off Blade’s life support.
Paying tribute to his ‘best friend’, Nathan said he was ‘everything [to me]’ adding, his world will never be the same again.
The boy’s mother, Tamika Frid, described the tragedy as the worst day of her life, adding she wished the whole thing ‘was just a dream’.
She said:
I wish everything was just a dream and we can we just wake up and everything will just be better again.
Always tell your kids you love them and give them as many hugs as you can because you don’t know what will happen the next day.
The couple’s other son, Jeremy, is still fighting for his life and is reported to have suffered burns to 90 per cent of his body.
Investigations as to what started the blaze are ongoing.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.