SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. – Election Night is a night when fates are decided, whether it be the fate of the country or in one case, the fate of two disabled people.
The two men were trapped in a burning home on the 5400 block of Gardendale Street in Southeast Shelby County around 6 p.m. Tuesday.
But their fate would change when two Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies came to their aid.
“I’m not a hero,” Deputy Daniel Wilson insists.
Upon arriving to the scene, Wilson pulls one of the men to safety.
“He was at the entry of the doorway. My and the caretakers were basically able to get him out with ease,” said Wilson.
Then Wilson and his partner, Crystal Harris, made their way to a back bedroom, where they find a bedridden man paralyzed from the waist down.
“We just made sure that he stayed calm cause we was unable to actually take him out the house,” said Harris, who’s only been with the Sheriff’s Office three months.
The deputies weren’t able to lift the man, but they refused to leave, remaining by his side until firefighters could arrive.
“We react to a situation. That’s what we’re here for,” said Harris.
The Shelby County Fire Department tells WREG the fire originated in the kitchen, but no cause has been determined.
A total of three people were taken to the hospital, but there is no word on their conditions.