Kristy Morton and Luke Hayes woke to discover that the apartment below them was on fire and realised their only […]
Kristy Morton and Luke Hayes woke to discover that the apartment below them was on fire and realised their only escape was via the balcony. They have a seven-month-old daughter, Nevaeh.
“I was in bed asleep and I heard ‘fire’ from down below and there was smoke everywhere in the unit, I thought I was going to die,” Hayes said.
Fortunately, neighbor Tony Finn saw the flames, and rushed to assist.
“My first thought was to get everyone out but the heat was so intense,” Finn said.
“I was so scared but I had to get her out, and I was so relieved to see Tony and Charlie, another neighbor, down there,” Morton said.
Morton carefully dropped her precious baby over the side of the balcony.
Morton says she was terrified as she dropped her seven-month-old daughter from the window of the second-level unit, but said she had no other option.
Finn said his hands were shaking as waited for Morton to drop little Nevaeh Roze Hayes.
“I was a bit shaky because I was doubting myself, whether I could catch her or not,” Finn said.
“We caught her like a football, with our arms out and then hauled her back in,” he said.
“She was smiling like an angel. She loved it. I’m still a little nervous, still a bit shaky. I just wanted to make sure everyone was ok,” Finn said.
The 23-year-old then ran to his shed to get a ladder for Morton and her partner, Luke, to climb down to safety.
Finn said he didn’t believe he had done anything out of the ordinary.
“I wouldn’t be called a hero. Anyone in the same situation would have done the same thing,” he said.
Mr Finn was taken to hospital and was treated for smoke inhalation but was later released.
Neveah and her parents were all uninjured.