A Simple Act of Kindness That Saved Lives

Anyone familiar with the wild winter weather in the U.S. knows how uncomfortable it is to be outside when snow is falling or harsh winds threaten to tear everything apart.

So, when a local 66-year-old grandmother saw a homeless man walking down the street barefoot and wrapped in rags, she immediately knew she couldn't let him continue on his way.

The grandmother, who wished to remain anonymous, brought the homeless man, Thomas Smith, into her home. Her heart was filled with joy as she watched him relish the chance to sleep in a regular house. "She made me hot chocolate and served me a warm meal," he later recounted. "It was so nice, it reminded me of days gone by."

As Smith was about to leave, thanking her for the meal and kindness, the grandmother offered him to stay overnight. "It was clear to me that there was no way I could let him sleep on the street on such a night," she recalled.

Smith was given a room next to her older grandkids, feeling 'on cloud nine.' He quickly fell asleep, but in the middle of the night, he suddenly awoke to a loud noise. "I heard a loud thud and got out of bed. I noticed the woman and children hadn't woken up, but I suspected someone might be breaking into the house."

As he walked around the house, Smith suddenly smelled a strong odor of smoke coming from the grandmother's bedroom. He rushed over, and when he opened the door, his eyes widened in shock. The grandmother was lying in bed with chunks of the ceiling on her. She couldn't move. "I realized the noise came from an explosion in the attic, causing a fire and a ceiling collapse in the bedroom below," Smith explained.

He quickly evacuated the grandmother, but meanwhile, the fire started spreading throughout the house from the attic. "I knew I had no time and had to get the grandkids out," Smith recounted how he returned into the burning house, immediately after getting the grandmother to the yard. "I got the grandkids out and exited through the front door to the yard before the flames reached me. It was truly a miracle."

The neighbors, watching the scene unfold in horror, called for an ambulance and watched the firefighters as the walls of the house fell one after the other. "I've lived in this house for 40 years, and now it's all gone. Nothing's left of it, but I'm happy. I'm grateful that I did a good deed. My grandkids were saved thanks to Smith, and I thank him for that. From a good deed, you never lose," she concluded.