Two local children – 8-year-old Jude Long and his 12-year-old brother Silas Long – were at their Treyway Terrace apartment on Saturday while their mom was receiving dialysis.
That’s when a fire broke out and Jude is now on life support in an intensive care unit.
We spoke to Silas and his mom today at Driscoll Children’s Hospital. That’s where little Silas is being cared for.
There’s no doubt that this tragic day will always be with his family.
“My whole life just sunk,” said their mother, Karen G. Long. “My thoughts were just underneath me and my heart was on the floor.
Mrs. Long describes her reaction when she learned about the fire at her home.
The boys had just taken a nap in their mother’s bedroom when the fire broke out in another bedroom.
“I woke up to smoke,” Silas said. “It was choking me.”
Silas described the nightmare he woke up to, with smoke quickly filled the bedroom. The 12-year-old says he barely made his way out.
“I realized that I was running out of air,” he said. “Then, what I had to do was get downstairs. Then I passed out on the stairs, but I knew I had to save my bro.”
As Silas found himself safe from the fire, his mind quickly turned to his little brother.
Neighbors gathered in an attempt to help pull Jude out of the burning apartment. They quickly returned outside as they couldn’t breathe.
“As everybody was outside, people from all over Treyway were trying to save my brother, but they just couldn’t,” Silas said.
Firefighters arrived and were able to pull the young boy out, but the nightmare wasn’t over.
“The firefighters came,” he said. “They got him, and I was immediately traumatized.”
As Jude remains in critical condition, his family remains hopeful.
“We’re staying strong and positive, hoping for the best,” Karen G. Long said.
Jude remains on life support, but his mom and older brother remain hopeful.
His mother told us that’s because her son has a very strong heart.
