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August 11, 2015
Man, 90, saves wife of 68 years in wheelchair from fire in North Carolina
Man, 90, saves wife of 68 years in wheelchair from fire in North Carolina
A 90-year-old man pulled his wife of 68 years to safety in her wheelchair as a fire ravaged their North Carolina home.
Arthur Schneider jumped into action after a lightning storm hit a street transformer, causing flames to crawl through his Asheboro house, he told the Daily News Saturday.
Arthur immediately thought of his wife Rosemary, 89, who has Parkinson’s disease and dementia. She was all the way at the back of the house and cannot walk.
“I had to go back and get her,” Arthur said. “She’s part of me.”
The smoke alarms “were all buzzing” as the power went out, forcing Schneider to have to feel his way around as he couldn’t even see “my hand in front of my face,” he said.
Arthur, who grew up in the Bronx, wheeled Rosemary out to the front porch and ran across his yard — which is “the size of a football field ” — to get help from a neighbor, his daughter Bernadette Such said. He made the dash without his cane, despite his "terrible limp," she said.
The neighbor helped bring Rosemary off the porch, which isn’t wheelchair accessible, and called 911.
Half the house was destroyed in the fire, and the couple is staying with Such, who lives eight miles away.
Arthur shrugged off claims he acted heroically.
“I don’t know if it’s so incredible. I think anybody else would do the same thing,” he said.
But Thursday’s rescue was just the latest example of Arthur’s devotion to his wife, Such said.
Arthur has taken care of Rosemary, feeding her and cleaning her, since she was put in hospice care a couple years ago. He even insisted on putting her hospital-style bed next to his bed so they can sleep next to each other.
“My dad is a saint,” Such said. “I told him you’ll go straight to heaven for what he’s done for her the last two or three years.”
The couple met during World War II after Rosemary wrote to Arthur, who was serving in Guam in the Navy. Six months after they met in person, they got married in October 1946.
Arthur got a job at an IBM plant in Kingston, and the lovebirds had nine children, 20 grandkids and two great-grandchildren.
“It’s a good marriage,” he said. “When you live together and you love somebody, you can’t afford to lose it.”
Wild Thing's comment...............
Wonderful story!!!
Posted by Wild Thing at August 11, 2015 12:55 AM
Comments
More of the Greatest Generation. Arthur is a fantastic hero.
Posted by: TomR,armed in Texas at August 11, 2015 02:38 PM
