LAUDERHILL, FLA. (WSVN) – A good Samaritan is speaking out on his stunning save of a 95-year-old woman who was stuck inside a home when it went up in flames. <\/p>\n
Lauderhill Fire crews responded to the home at 1450 Northwest 32nd Terrace on Aug. 29 and found smoke and flames visible from the rear. <\/p>\n
Homeowner Rose Nelson\u2019s daughter, Sandra Watson, said a lightning strike hit an AC wall unit, igniting the flames. <\/p>\n
Video shared with 7News shows the interior of Nelson\u2019s Lauderhill home fully destroyed. <\/p>\n
Nelson is currently recovering at the hospital after being rescued by Tracy Bernard Smith. <\/p>\n
Bernard Smith said he was walking to his family\u2019s house, two doors down from Nelson, in the rain when he noticed the smoke. <\/p>\n
\u201cI saw smoke in the front and I knew what it was. I walked over there and I saw her. I lifted the window and she was standing right there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Speaking to 7News, Watson said her mother suffers from Carpal tunnel syndrome and couldn\u2019t open the window by herself and she\u2019s thankful Bernard Smith was nearby.<\/p>\n
The good Samaritan recalls how Nelson looked when he began pulling her out of the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was black like soot black. I didn\u2019t see burns. I just saw a lot of black, like tar coming out of her nose. We lifted her like this and carried her out,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Since then, Nelson has been at Jackson Memorial Hospital\u2019s Burn Center with Watson by her side. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey pretty much got all the soot out of her lungs. Her throat is better cause it was burned as well as her tongue from inhaling the soot,\u201d said Watson. <\/p>\n
The home has been declared unlivable and the family said Nelson didn\u2019t have insurance as it has gotten too expensive for a resident on a fixed income. <\/p>\n
Now, Watson has created a GoFundMe for her mother\u2019s recovery and to get back her home. <\/p>\n
\u201cI want to help her get her house back. She\u2019s wanna go home, she doesn\u2019t have her hearing aids, she can\u2019t hardly hear,\u201d she said. \u201cShe screaming in the middle of the night saying, \u2018Fire,\u2019 then her name, address and \u2018Get out of the house.’\u201d<\/p>\n
She said it\u2019s unclear how the family will be able to afford to return to the home Nelson has lived in for decades as well as to her neighbors and her adored plants. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s all she kept saying, when she does talk to me, \u2018Is the house bad? Where am I gonna go,\u2019 I said, \u2018Momma, you\u2019re gonna come with me. We are gonna work on getting the house back together,’\u201d said Watson.<\/p>\n