Sam tells of leap to escape blaze
Friday 23rd July 2010, 11:29AM BST.
A Shropshire teenager who leapt 40ft from a burning Shropshire home — breaking his wrist in the fall — has spoken today of his dramatic escape.
Sam Smith, 18, thought he would be paralysed when he jumped but was left with no choice after being forced out of his fourth-floor bedroom window as flames ripped through the home in Severn Terrace, in Smithfield Road, at 3am Shrewsbury, on July 9.
His sister Laura, 20, was rescued by firefighters from the first floor. The fire is believed to have started in the ground floor living room.
After trying to escape down the stairs Sam was pinned back by the thick, black plumes of smoke.
The restaurant worker from Osteria De Paulo, in Hill’s Lane, Shrewsbury, was released from hospital last week and blames an electrical fault as the cause of the fire.
He said: “I had phoned the fire services but I was collapsing with the smoke which was choking me. I knew I needed to get out of the room. I thought I would be paralysed but I was forced to jump.
“When I hit the floor, the phone I was holding onto flew into the hedges. I remember seeing it’s light glowing so I dragged myself towards it and called the fire service again.”
Firefighters from Shrewsbury and Wellington fire stations brought the fire under control in about an hour.
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