Forty-six years ago, firefighter Vincent Fildes ran back into a burning building he had just crawled out of. He couldn’t remember if he saw anyone or heard any cries, but he was sure there were people still in the building.
Sure enough, four year old Patrick Witherspoon was trapped inside with his sister. At the risk of his own life, Fildes fought past the smoke and blaze and managed to grab Patrick, before escaping out into the open. Although another firefighter had grabbed his sister, sadly, she didn’t pull through. And even though Patrick had made it out alive, his burns were so severe that doctors weren’t sure he’d live.
But he did, and later married and raised 3 children with his wife.
Last week, they all reunited in a cafe.
An emotional moment for Fildes (left) and Witherspoon.
Witherspoon’s wife managed to find Fildes by looking through an old microfilm at the local library. She was moved to tears as she got the chance to thank the man who saved her husband all those years ago.
The day after he pulled Patrick out of the fire, he went to visit him in the hospital. That moment was photographed by the local press.
A reunion after this long is unusual, and certainly amazing to witness.
For the Weatherspoon family, what Fildes and the other Buffalo firefighters did that day was far from just a job.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Annie Weatherspoon said. “I thank you, because if not for what you did, I wouldn’t have him in my life today. And I thank God you were there.”
“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here,” said Lakeshia Weatherspoon.
Then she gestured toward her sons, Marcel Brown, 12, and Jaeden Bolden. Jaeden is 4, the same age as her father when Vincent Fildes plunged into a smoke-filled burning house to save him. “And neither would they.”