A woman who rescuers thought died in a fire, was brought back to life Thursday morning, and a lot of the credit goes to her husband.
"Really, a life-saving story here," said Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers.
"They did all of the right things in their home. They had a working smoke alarm on every level. The smoke alarm is what woke them up."
The couple also had an escape plan, which worked for the husband, but not for the wife. She ended up trapped by the fire in a room upstairs.
"Her husband gave strict instructions on what to do – keeping her head out the window making sure she got the air…that the firefighters were coming," said Ayers.
Rescuers were met at the door of the Northwood home by flames. They knocked them down, got upstairs and pulled the woman out.
"First, she had no vitals, we thought she was deceased," Ayers said.
"The medic unit did a fantastic job working on this lady to save her life" and when they got her to Temple University Hospital, doctors were able to revive her.
Investigators think the fire started on the first floor in the back of the home and were investigating the cause.
At the fire scene, Commissioner Ayers went up to the husband and thanked him.
"The good story here is an elderly family who actually did the right things and we believe that doing those right things saved her today."
