Man Saves Baby from Burning House.

August 13, 2024 by Cathy Stack

CLEVELAND—As he drove along his regular route to work, John Stickovich spotted a frightening scene of a house consumed in flames. A distraught woman sat on the grass outside the burning home, cradling a baby. He stopped his car to ask the woman if she needed help and, to his utter shock, she told him that her other baby was still trapped inside. She was able to grab one of the 11-month-old twins, but had been unable to reach the other baby, Opal.

Without hesitation, John ran to save the infant.

“The mother was sitting on the lawn with her one baby, and I asked her if she was all right and she said, ‘My baby is still in the house,’” said John. “I was thinking to myself, ‘Oh my God, I have to save the baby.’ That’s how it was going to be.”

Samantha James, the babies’ mother, recalled how the thick smoke blinded her when the fire quickly erupted and spread throughout her home.

“I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe, and I tried to get Opal and couldn’t find her.”

John immediately went into rescue mode. He attempted to enter the home by kicking in the side door, but that part of the home had been engulfed in thick smoke. He then found an open back door, which offered greater visibility to the room. He crawled under the smoke and listened for the child to determine which direction he should go, but panicked when he heard no sounds.

He frantically ran out again to ask Samantha where she last saw her child. She cried out that Opal had been near the baby gate. Again, he sprinted into the blazing fire and blinding smoke. To his great relief, he finally heard the child’s whimper and crawled in that direction. He glimpsed the baby through a clearing in the smoke’s haze, and he reached out to grasp her. He quickly pulled the baby out into his arms and made a mad dash for the front door to safety.

The fire department had just arrived on scene to fight the blaze, which had escalated to the point of collapsing the front porch. Two firefighters sustained injuries from falling debris.

“He was very brave that morning,” Cleveland Fire Lieutenant Michael Norman said of John’s actions. He added that John’s quick thinking without a doubt saved the baby.

Emergency personnel transported John, Samantha and the twins to the hospital for smoke inhalation evaluation. The injured firefighters also received treatment. All have all been released.

“Everybody is just calling and saying how great of a job it was, but I mean, I would do it for anybody, it doesn’t matter. And I would hope that somebody would do it for me,” John said.

“The fact that he went in once, twice, it’s incredible,” Samantha said of her hero. “He is our guardian angel.”

Investigation into the fire confirmed that it was accidental and the result of an electrical malfunction.

The Foundation for a Better Life and PassItOn believe that Jonn Stickovich is a true hero. He relied on raw instinct and determination to save a life. He didn’t stop to think about his own safety bur rather focused on trying to avert a tragedy. His action is the perfect example of bravery. Thanks to John, Opal Moon Siska survived the devastating fire.