9 hours ago
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On Halloween night in 2020, I came home from work in a terrible mood. I’d had a bad day, and was thinking, “F-everybody.” My wife’s sister was hosting a party that night and I had two costume options – Jesus, or Homelander, the psychopathic superhero from Amazon Prime series The Boys. Because of my state of mind, I went with Homelander. I’d already bought the costume, complete with its stars and stripes cape.
We live in Greenville, Ohio and the party was a short drive across town. My wife, Chelsey, was behind the wheel, dressed as Starlight, another superhero from The Boys, and my kids were in the back of the car in their Iron Man and dragon outfits. Chelsey took a turn down a road as we neared her sister’s house and that’s when I saw flames shooting out of another house.
I said, “Honey, pull over and call 911.” As I leapt out, Chelsey said, “What are you doing?” The kids were both staring from the back seat. “Don’t worry,” I said, “I’ll be right back”, and took off towards the burning house.
There were people out front, including some big dudes. I ran up and asked, “Is anybody inside?” The biggest guy looked at me and said, “I’m not sure.” I was shocked, and said, “What? Why is everybody just standing out here like they’re at a hog roast?” Pulling open a screen door, I hollered, “Is anybody in here?” I heard the sort of noise someone makes when they get hit in the stomach and lose their breath – a kind of wheezing sound.
“I’ll be right back,” I said again, and dived in, thinking, “This is going to be really tough.” As I did so, my cape hooked on a bannister and for a moment I was caught. Then the Velcro gave out and the cape floated back to the street, where a woman caught it. It looked cool, actually. I said, “Hold that – I’m going to need it later.”
Inside, I was immediately surrounded by flames. The costume was polyester, which melts if it gets too hot, and I knew I’d have to be quick. Along a short hallway I found a stairwell, and at the top I could see the silhouette of what looked like a person lying down. Running up, I found an unconscious man. I’m 5ft 9in and he was pretty big compared with me, but there was no time to try to wake him – it was so hot and the smoke and flames were closing in. I just grabbed him by his shirt and his belt loops, and made for the door, cradling him like a 6ft baby.
Outside, I carried him to the kerb and did sternum rubs on him. Finally, he came to, but when he saw the cops and fire department pulling up, he leapt to his feet and took off. The police caught and questioned him. The house wasn’t his – it was empty while being sold, and I gather he’d broken in and passed out. I don’t know what caused the fire – there was no electricity, so perhaps he’d lit a small one and it had got out of hand. He left that night after refusing medical treatment, but apparently someone heard him say he owed me his life. I’ve not met him since.
By then, firefighters had swept the house and established there had been no one else in there. Several people asked which superhero I was. I said, “He’s really more of a super jackass” – helping people is not something Homelander typically does. I hadn’t set out that night to save anyone myself, but I don’t think the costume affected my actions – I’ve helped people out of car wrecks before, I just think it’s what you should do.
If anything, I felt kind of like a douche – I’d have been much more comfortable going into that house in jeans and a T-shirt. But I still retrieved my cape so we could go on to the party. We were close enough to sit out at the back and watch the fire being put out.
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Later, I was awarded a Carnegie medal for heroism and added to the Ohio Fire Service Hall of Fame. When I heard Antony Starr, who plays Homelander on the show, had shared my story on social media, I couldn’t believe it. He wrote: “I never been a prouder parent.” As for my own children – five years on, they’re proud of me, too. One of them still tells kids at school that his dad’s a superhero. Given Homelander’s true nature, I’ll just have to make sure he never watches the show.
As told to Chris Broughton
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