Heroic Navy Sailor Puts His Safety at Risk to Rescue Family from Burning Building

Heroes, heroic and heroism are words thrown around way too often in society. The bar has been significantly lowered regarding being considered a hero today. Put a ball through a hoop, vote a particular way in Congress, run for president or appear on the big screen, and you, too, will be referred to as a hero.

But, of course, we know that is entirely wrong. None of those individuals are heroes or have done anything heroic. However, there are still heroes that exist. Unfortunately, they don’t get near the attention they deserve for their courageous, life-saving deeds.

A clip posted on YouTube captured one of these actual heroes: Gabriel Journey, a member of the U.S. Navy. In the video, an apartment building’s roof is engulfed in flames as heavy, thick smoke billows into the sky. It looks like a scene straight out of a movie.

A mother and her son are still inside, trapped in the burning building. The video captures bystanders nearby frantically working and trying to figure out how to get them out and to safety. Then, seconds later, one man, Gabriel, is hoisted up onto the side of the building near the open window of the woman’s apartment.

Gabriel stands along the building’s tiny, narrow edge as he reaches into the window and grabs the woman and then her son, lowering them down to safety.

In an interview following the heroic rescue, Gabriel stated that his military training helped to prepare him for that moment.

“We train very in-depthly on combatting what we call causalities, which may be in the sense of a fire or flooding,” he said.

Proverbs 19:17 says, “He who has pity on the poor gives to the Lord, and the Lord will give him his reward.”

This content originally appeared on GodTube.com; used with permission.
Photo Credit: ©YouTube/Inside Edition

Originally published February 24, 2025.