Nick Bostic, a 25 year old pizza delivery driver in Lafayette, Indiana, was in the right place and right time for this family and very grateful parents who have a new family member. After having an argument with his girlfriend, Bostic took his car for a drive to clear his head on the summer night. He ended up saving 4 siblings and their friend from a burning home, including a 6-year-old girl he jumped out of a second floor window with and suffered serious injuries that were "all worth it".
Bostic saw the two-story house on fire:
"It was adrenaline. I hightailed my butt into the house," he said.
The kids' parents, David and Tiera Barrett were on a date night, and their 18 year old daughter Seionna was babysitting her three siblings, ages 1, 6, and 13, and her sibling's 13 year old friend. She called her dad and "We dropped everything we were doing and took off running," David said.
Seionna saw the fire in the living room, ran upstairs yelling and grabbed her baby sister.
"We started running down the stairs, and that's when we saw Nick, and we couldn't find Kaylani," Seionna said, holding back tears.
Bostic helped the kids out the door and then went looking for Kaylani in the smoke-filled house.
"I took a deep breath, and I ran [downstairs] and I grabbed Kaylani. I used my ears to help find her," Bostic said.
Because of the dense smoke, Bostic said his only option was to exit through a second floor window. He punched out the glass and jumped to safety with the 6 year old girl in his arms. He suffered multiple injuries, but the girl only got a minor cut to her foot.
Police body camera captured the aftermath of the jump. Bostic handed Kaylani to police on the scene and collapsed on the pavement. While receiving treatment, he asks "Is the baby OK? Please tell me the baby's OK," before someone off camera assured him the child was fine.
"I remember pulling up to the house and running up and all Seionna could say was, 'I can't find Kaylani,'" David Barrett said. "Then the officers said, 'She's in the ambulance,' and then they told me about Nick and what he had done. I started crying more. One of the most awful feelings to have is that I wasn't there. Kaylani said, 'Daddy I was looking for you.'"
"On our wall, in our living room, it was completely burnt down. The only thing that was left was [a sign that read] 'love,' and that's all I feel from everyone," David said.
But the family said they did pick up a new family member.
"God uses the most unlikely characters. He sent an angel," David said.
Bostic suffered smoke inhalation and an arm injury and other wounds. He was airlifted to an Indianapolis hospital and discharged two days later. The hero said he's not a hero and just did what he would have wanted someone to do for him and his family if their home was on fire.
"It was all worth it. I kept reminding myself what a small sacrifice. This temporary pain ... it's so worth it," he told WLFI-TV.
A GoFundMe has been established by Bostic's family to help with his medical bills.