The father who risked his own life to pull his two sons from their burning home west of Toowoomba has spoken out about the harrowing experience after one of the boys succumbed to his injuries.
Nathan Perry was asleep with sons Jeremy and Blade, aged three and four, when he woke to find his home filled with smoke on Tuesday. He quickly noticed a flicker of light coming from the kids’ bedroom and sprung into action.
“I knew it was a fire straight away … I guess I made a mistake by opening the door and letting the air in and that’s when (the fire) went berserk,” he told Nine News.
The boys sustained serious burns to almost 90 per cent of their bodies and were taken to the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital in critical conditions where Blade’s life support was switched off on Wednesday afternoon. He passed away shortly after.
“I ran through the flames and grabbed the children out, did what I could, feel like I failed with Blade because he didn’t make it,” he continued.
“I’m heart broken, my two beautiful little boys … and my world’s never going to be the same again.”
He added: “It will haunt me forever.”
Mr Perry suffered burns to his arms, back and face but was released to be with his family.
The boys’ mother Tamika Frid said her world would “never be the same.”
“I never ever experienced anything so bad in my life till the day we had to turn the life support off on our son, the worst day,” she said.
“I just wish everything was just a dream and you could just wake up everything can be just better again.”
Ms Frid now believes Jeremy is being watched over by his older brother, Blade.
“He’s going to get through this, his brother’s right next to him … telling him you can do this, you do this,” she said.
“Our bright little boy from the bush.”
The family now face six months of treatment in Brisbane.
