Boy with Down Syndrome saves sister in house fire; hailed a hero

Image credit: Arapahoe Sheriff screengrab via X

A boy from Colorado who has Down Syndrome has been hailed a hero by his parents after he saved his older sister during a house fire.

 According to Live Action, after a fire broke out in his home, 8-year-old Grayson, who was home alone with his 14-year-old sister Ava, had alerted his sister of the fire whilst she was in the basement. This gave them both enough time to leave the house before it became engulfed in flames.

In a post on X, Arapahoe Sheriff said that upon their arrival at the scene, they saw heavy smoke coming from the house, and heard the two children in the back garden, who they were able to rescue by breaking down the fence of a neighbours garden.

“On December 1 just before noon, Deputy McConnell and Deputy Calderon responded to a house fire in the 4800 block of S. Gibraltar Ln. in Centennial. When they arrived, they saw heavy smoke inside and outside the home and discovered there were two children in the backyard, ages 8 and 14. The children told them there was no one else inside the home,” they said.

“The deputies, unable to enter the backyard through a blocked gate, were able to gain access through a neighbor’s home and tore down part of the wood fence with their hands. The children made their way towards them and the deputies were able to lift them through the fence and carry them to safety. Both deputies both suffered smoke inhalation and were treated at the scene by paramedics.”

Sheriff deputies rescue two children from backyard of burning home.

On December 1 just before noon, Deputy McConnell and Deputy Calderon responded to a house fire in the 4800 block of S. Gibraltar Ln. in Centennial. When they arrived, they saw heavy smoke inside and outside the… pic.twitter.com/rAkQ739ufl
— Arapahoe Sheriff (@ArapahoeSO) December 2, 2024

"Anywhere there was a hole in the house, there was smoke coming out of it," said Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office deputy Ryan McConnell in the X video.

At the time of the fire, the children’s parents were in the neighbourhood visiting relatives. They saw the smoke from the fire, but did not realise it was coming from their house. Speaking of the incident, their mother has hailed her son a hero after alerting his sister of the fire.

"He was yelling, 'Ava, Ava!' And kept yelling, 'Ava, Ava.' He kind of saved her life. He's our hero," she told local news. 

Sadly, there is a stigma about children diagnosed with Down Syndrome that has led to people choosing to not give a baby a chance at life after receiving a diagnosis in the womb. Right to Life UK also reported earlier this year that just under 90% of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome were aborted in England and in the Crown Dependencies in 2021.  

In December 2022, Rotunda Hospital in Dublin announced that 95% of babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome in their hospital are aborted. However, in response to this, Conor O’Dowd, who has Down Syndrome, delivered a letter to the hospital saying that he loves his life and doesn’t “understand why people are trying to take away people with Down syndrome”. He said that what was happening was “very wrong and very unfair” and urged the hospital to “save babies with Down Syndrome.”

Sandra Parda of the Life Institute commented saying: “What a hero this young boy was in bravely saving his sister from the fire. Society wants us to believe that people diagnosed with Down Syndrome are a hindrance on families, but it is stories like these that remind us that this is not the truth. They are just as precious and valuable as any other person and bring so much love and joy into their families.”