by: Isabel Albritton
STERLINGTON, LA. (KTVE/KARD)– A Louisiana family is calling one neighbor their “guardian angel” after a fire broke out at their mother’s home.
“A blessing is this young man right here,” said homeowner Sallie Gillam.
Gillam was sound asleep when a fire broke out in her carport. The smoke quickly made its way into her home.
“I didn’t know anything was going on,” Gillam said.
Luckily, Dante Parker, a neighbor, was walking down the street at that time.
“I was coming from my Auntie’s house and I just saw fire coming up from the storage room. I didn’t know if it was her house or what house it was, but I started running this way,” said Parker.
Parker explained by the time he made it to the stop sign on Paige Circle he knew it was her house. He said his first instinct was to make sure she wasn’t in the home. That’s when he saw she was asleep.
“I heard her when I busted out the window,” said Parker. “I was telling her to come out. I started coming through the window and cut my lip and so I came back and it just so happened when I came back out I guess I got her out the house and woke her up in time and I carried her out the road.”
“He’s very strong and I never will forget him, I never will stop loving him, whatever he needs he can come to me for it,” said Gillam.
Gillam’s daughter Marsha Andrews stated she is very grateful for Parker and his selfless act.
“We believe he saved her life, we believe he was looking out for her,” said Andrews. “Thank you to Dante we are forever grateful for you and the community and the firefighters.”
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
