Brandon Dahl, a Texas toddler, had the sense to wake up his parents, Nathan and Kayla Dahl, in the middle of a house fire when they could not smell the smoke after they lost their sense of smell due to COVID-19. The two-year-old ended up saving the lives of his parents and four other siblings because they got out of the blazing house in time.
The house fire happened in the wee hours of Jan. 15 but Kayla and Nathan recently spoke with "Good Morning America" to share how the Texas toddler saved the family.
Kayla said she felt Brandon tapping her feet during her sleep and then heard the toddler cough. Brandon uttered the words, "Momma, hot," allowing Kayla to turn around and see the flames, while her husband guided the rest of the family to safety.
"Nothing Short of a Miracle"
In an interview with Washington Post, Kayla said that she and her husband were still recovering COVID-19 and had no sense of smell or taste. Thus, they were not able to detect the smoke from the fire.
The parents also just had their smoke detectors replaced but they didn't hear the device going off. Nathan, who is a volunteer firefighter, said that they only had seconds to get out but what happened was "nothing short of a miracle" had their toddler not alerted them.
That night, Brandon was sleeping in the living room, adjacent to his parent's bedroom with the doors open, because he was feeling sick. Kayla agreed with Nathan that it was indeed a miracle as the toddler was still able to walk to his parents and rouse them to sleep because the fire almost engulfed the living room.
The parents told "Good Morning America" that the children are taught fire safety procedures and have had a number of fire drills at home. Brandon's actions were a testament of how effective and life-saving those lessons have been.
Community Helps Out the Dahls
The Texas toddler had a small injury on his head but reports cited that none of the Dahls had serious injuries nor any risks of smoke inhalation. However, they completely lost everything, including the car in their garage.
Kayla is aware that rebuilding their lives will be a long process but the most important thing is that their family is intact. She has been thanking Brandon's guardian angel every single day since the incident.
Days after the house fire, the Dahl family lived with relatives but they were immediately able to secure a rental home thanks to a GoFundMe fundraiser from the community. Donations came pouring in and reached nearly $30,000 from the initial goal of $5,000.
The family plans to use part of the money to have a small-scale thanksgiving party for the Texas toddler. Kayla said her toddler might not yet realize the impact of what he did but he is definitely loving the attention from the community. Some people even shake Brandon's hands at the grocery store or tell him he's a hero.
