BLIND HERO

This is a truly amazing story. This happened in the same area of Montgomery County, Texas. 

His name is Jim Sherman, and chances are you don't know who he is. Why should you care, right? Here's why.

Jim Sherman did something so courageous that he made me question my courage. He went into a neighbor's house and rescued her from a fire that was engulfing her home. That's been done before, and while it's great, it's not stupendous, right?

Vision loss is one of the most frightening experiences for any man. The situation is more difficult for those who were born with normal eyesight at a time, due to an accident or illness, lose the joy given by this sense. But there are also people who are blind from birth and who perceive a lack of vision in completely different way. Otherwise develop their instincts, they sharpened other senses to compensate for lack of vision.

Jim Sherman is blind from birth, and at the age of 54 years has undergone a remarkable experience for the situation. In the immediate vicinity of his home, Annie Smith lived a blind old woman aged 85 years.

In order to support each other one of the two houses there is a communication system similar to those used to monitor babies.

A few years ago, one evening of Monday, Jim heard Annie for help in communication. In her house a fire had occurred and old was locked and could not leave the house alone.

With his walking stick moving from side to side, tapping a familiar grass and dirt path Jim was able to reach her old neighbor house.

He said he edged toward the rickety chain link fence and tapped it, using it as a guide. Once at the gate, he

used the sidewalk to lead him to the front door.

''I got to the door and heard crackling, smelled smoke and felt intense heat" Sherman said. ''I took two to three steps (inside) to meet Annie. I grabbed both of her hands firmly to get her out of the house. I was walking backward and she was walking forward."

He then called 911 on his cordless phone, he said.

Annie Smith, her dog, three kittens and one of her three cats were not injured in the blaze, which fire officials said was caused by an electrical overload in a bedroom, destroying the house.

 Fire crews were dispatched to the two-bedroom house at 10:18 p.m. and found the house engulfed in flames when they arrived 12 minutes later, said Kevin Bates, an investigator with the Montgomery County Fire Marshal's Office.

Bates said Sherman saved Smith's life.

"She probably wouldn't have made it out of the house without his help," Bates said.

He said relatives told him Smith had a stroke about four weeks ago and has trouble walking.

 Sherman had come to her rescue then as well, said Smith's daughter, Delores Perry. He heard Smith on the baby monitor fall to the floor.

''He got her on the couch and called 911, and then called my sister at work," she said.

Her sister, Deborah Smith, lives with their mother in the house in the 18100 block of Howards Way. Sherman said Deborah Smith had come up with the idea to buy a baby monitor about six months ago because she worried about her mother falling while Deborah worked a night shift as a nurse.

Sherman, a retired computer programmer who lives alone, said he agreed to check on Smith as a favor to Deborah Smith, whom he briefly dated.

The night of the fire, Sherman said he came home about 9:30 p.m., after visiting the mother and daughter.

He said he was preparing to go to bed, when he turned on the baby monitor to ''listen in on Annie."

He said he heard the usual noise  Annie Smith's TV and her moving around the house. Then he said he heard ''several abrupt popping noises."

"I didn't know what it was. It kept happening but she didn't say anything," he said. ''Then I hear her call, 'Jim, Jim, the house is on fire!' "

Sherman said he quickly put on his shoes, grabbed his walking stick and ran to the house. He said he didn't smell smoke until he got to the front door. Once inside, he could feel intense heat similar to heat from a barbecue pit, he said.

Sherman led Smith through heavy smoke and out the front door. He called 911 before taking her to another neighbor's house.

Annie Smith said she had been in the bathroom and when she came out, she heard a popping sound. She opened the bathroom door to investigate and ''smoke and flames just boiled out. I called my puppy and we tried to get out of the house," she said.

She said Sherman met her just before she reached the front door and grabbed her hands. She said she wanted to go back inside to retrieve her kittens, but Sherman refused to let her go.

Deborah Smith said she had left for work at 9 p.m., and about 45 minutes later, she got a call that the house was on fire.

''I rushed home and found my mama and Jim first," she said. ''I went back in the house and got my three kittens that were just born."

There are no words to express such courage. It reminds of the trip Jesus took from heaven to save you and me, only He did not wait for us to call for help: "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us".

Jim Sherman was truly courageous. hopefully some day i can reach that level of trust with God that if he says jump i ask "how high Lord".

foto credit: google.com

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