21 – The Fire
This is the story of the first time I saved someone's life. It is also the story of the first time I was unable to save someone's life.
It was the end of our 88-89 season and Ohio State had made the final four (go Buckeyes!) and we had travelled to Baltimore, Maryland who were hosting the finals tournament. Our team had been doing well, obviously, and my life had been travelling along well so I was set for a good game. All I had to do was keep my head in the game and it was highly likely we could take out the Championship. So, in trying to do just that, I decided to take a walk the night before our semi final to clear my head and get in the zone.
I had been walking for about half an hour going over plays in my mind, thinking about the strengths and weaknesses in both our team and Penn State's team when I heard faint screams. I rounded a corner and I noticed a house on fire and realized that is where the sounds were emanating. Without even thinking it through, in an act that would earn me both hero and idiot status, I ran in. On the second floor I found a young boy hidden in his closet screaming for someone to find him. I grabbed him out and started to head out when I heard more screaming from further down the hall. The boy was yelling at me to save his sister but as I turned to head down to her room, one of the ceiling beams collapsed both blocking my way and signally the inevitable collapse of the house.
I had to make a choice. I turned and carried the boy out of the house leaving his little sister inside, hoping desperately that the sirens outside would signal the arrival of her saviors. Sadly, only about a minute after I got out with the boy, the whole second floor collapsed. There was no hope for her.
This is one of those 'what if' moments that would haunt me for years. In my mind I knew I had made the right choice, but my heart… it had a whole other opinion. My mind knew I wouldn't have had enough time to get both out, but my heart kept saying, 'what if you saved her first?', or 'what if you went to her and passed them out a window'. It was full of helpful suggestions. It was also my heart that kept up my internal mantra; I was not enough.
I found out when I handed over the boy to the paramedics that his name was Jason. Turns out he would be fine, just a bit of smoke inhalation but they whisked him away to the hospital for treatment as his parents were not around. I never found out where his parents were or why they left a 6 and 4 year old alone in their house. I was also treated for smoke inhalation but after having some oxygen for about 10 minutes and being questioned by the police and fire department I was allowed to leave.
I returned to the team hotel to be met by my coach in the foyer. "DiNozzo, where the hell have you been? Curfew was 20 minutes ago!" It was about this time that my adrenalin had stopped coursing through my veins and the reality of what had just happened hit me all at once. I started to shake and I could feel tears welling in my eyes.
"Jesus, what the hell happened?"
So I told him. I didn't come out as, "I ran into a building and saved a kids life tonight." No, what I said was, "I couldn't save her, I tried but I just couldn't get to her." Eventually he managed to get the whole story out of me.
He had the team doctor check me out and sometime after midnight I was finally sent to bed to try and get some sleep.
The next day I desperately tried to get back into the head zone I needed for the game, but try as I might I just could not get those images and sounds out of my mind. I only played 20 minutes of the game before the coach inevitably pulled me out. Our team ended up going down to Penn by 18 points.
However, as terrifying and heartbreaking as the ordeal had been, I had also been fascinated as I watched the first responders. The paramedics, firefighters and police just took control! That was cool. I think it was that night that I got the first grain of a suggestion of an inclination that I would maybe like to do this. I mean, I knew I didn't have to worry about that because, let's face it, I was going to be picked for the NBA, but if something so incredibly unlikely happened and I couldn't play, then just maybe I could be a firefighter, or a paramedic or even a cop.
Yeah a cop! No a detective, or a Fed. A Fed would be cool.