MARVELL, Ark. — A 12-year-old boy in Marvell, Arkansas is being recognized for his quick thinking, after alerting his neighbor to a house fire.
Terry Bledsoe Jr. says he was outside playing basketball when his ball landed in his neighbor’s yard.
“My instincts just told me to turn around, and I seen her window just burning up and then it just started popping,” he said.
The woman didn’t notice any smoke. She was about to walk from her car into her home.
“She ran right like right here and looked down, and she said, ‘Oh my God,’ ran to her car and pulled off,” Terry said.
The woman isn’t just a neighbor — Bledsoe says she’s a teacher at the elementary school he attends.
She says he didn’t just alert her, but other neighbors, too. He saw debris flying into the air coming dangerously close to other homes.
“I had to focus on keeping that house and that house from getting on fire,” Terry said.
“That`s a blessing, especially for a kid to do something like that, he was thinking fast,” his father, Terry Bledsoe Sr., said.
The young hero doesn’t like looking what’s left of his neighbor’s house, but what does put this smile on his face is the thought of her being alive, and the dozens who have thanked him and praised him.
“One of my friends said, ‘You’re Facebook famous. I need some of that fame, boy.'”