The 28-year-old mom put her daughter Viviana to bed one night on the second floor of her home unaware of the tragic events that were about to unfold. It started when lightning hit the electrical box and she lost power.
Erika couldn’t find a flashlight, so she lit a candle to light the room while she called for help but after so many attempts her phone died and she went outside to her car to charge it.
Just moments after stepping out of her home she had a bad feeling and turned around to see the most terrifying scene.
Her home was on fire and the bedroom where her precious baby girl Viviana was sleeping was glowing with the blaze
She immediately tried to get to her daughter, but thick smoke and flames pushed her back each time.
“I tried to keep getting in,” Erika told CBS News. “She was up the stairs, but the fire smoke was so heavy I couldn’t get past it… I kept running back out and back in, trying to get up there. Then, the door curling started falling and I couldn’t get back in.”
Firefighters were still on their way and in the chaos of fire, Erika didn’t even notice that “all the skin was off my hand from grabbing the rail and it melted off.”
Also inside her home was her beloved six-year-old dog Polo and what Erika didn’t realize is that this doggy hero was making the ultimate sacrifice.
When firefighters arrived, they rescued Viviana and told Erika that thanks to Polo her baby girl had survived.
Always protective of the baby girl, Polo knew he had to help her when the fire broke out. He bravely covered Viviana’s body with his until rescuers arrived, saving the child’s life. Erika believes that he could have run downstairs and out the door to safety, but chose instead to shield baby Viviana from the flames with his body.
And while the brave dog didn’t survive the flames, Viviana did and continues on her long recovery after suffering severe burns and slipping into a coma following the tragic incident.
Find out more about Erika’s story in the video below:
[arve url=”https://youtu.be/qtuFLKr3e7Y” /]
Friends and family set up a GoFundMe to help Erika rebuild her life after losing everything, and to pay for Viviana’s medical bills.
Thank goodness for brave dogs such as Polo who made the ultimate sacrifice for the humans he loved.
Please share this heartbreaking story of true dog devotion to highlight how much these four-legged friends should be cherished.
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