Retired Marine Veteran and hero, Terry Bagley Sr., is fighting for his life after rushing into a burning building in Baltimore, Maryland, to rescue a mother and daughter.
Bagley, who remains in critical condition, was walking by the home on Bayard Street in Southwest Baltimore Tuesday when a home exploded and went up in flames, a family member told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren.
The hero is in critical condition in a Maryland hospital. The mother and daughter have been upgraded to stable condition.
American Military News reports:
Bagley entered the building and tried to save them, but another part of the house collapsed on him. He remained hospitalized in critical condition Thursday, unable to celebrate the holiday he started cooking for days earlier. Officials said the other two victims had been upgraded to stable condition on Wednesday.
The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, fire spokesperson Chief Roman Clark said. Rattled neighbors told reporters at the scene that Baltimore Gas and Electric had been doing work in the area recently. BGE workers were also present at the explosion site the following day.
Bagley’s daughter, Eris Bagley, said he was placed in a medically induced coma because his injuries are extensive, including a broken pelvis, femur and hand. She said doctors delayed performing surgery Wednesday in hope that his heartbeat would become stronger; they planned to complete the surgery Thursday.
“He lived through polio outbreaks. He survived toxic water at Camp Lejeune. He served in Vietnam, one of the most horrific wars known to America,” Eris Bagley said. “I’m not used to seeing my dad weak.”
But she said his pain is severe; she can see tears in his eyes. She spent hours with him at Shock Trauma on Wednesday, telling him his family was proud of him and everything would be OK.
“We are just praying for the surgeon’s hand and praying that my father is so stubborn he doesn’t want to leave us yet,” she said.
From CBS News:
Officials responded Tuesday to an explosion that involved several homes and a ruptured gas line.
Chopper 13 flew over the scene on Bayard Street where a home was completely demolished.
Many people in the neighborhood heard a “boom” when the explosion happened.
“It sounded like somebody took a hand grenade and threw it and it went boom,” said Dale, a neighborhood resident.
People who live in the area told WJZ reporter Kelsey Kushner that construction crews have been working on gas lines for about a month. They said they smelled gas leading up to the explosion.
BGE, and its private contractors, confirmed they had been working on fixing and upgrading a gas main in the same area as the explosion.
“I was at my kitchen table, eating, and the next thing you know there was a big explosion; it was a big boom,” one woman said. “It was very loud. It kind of knocked me out of my chair.”
The woman said she ran to her front door and realized that something went wrong with a gas line.
Another neighborhood resident, James, said he was one of several neighbors who watched as the house went up in flames.
“You hear pop, pop, pop, and everybody said it’s about to explode again,” James said.
Bagley’s son, Terry, shared the story on a GoFundMe campaign organized to support medical care for his heroic father.
“Hello everyone, my father, Terry Bagley Sr., was injured severely trying to save two people in the Pigtown explosion yesterday afternoon. As my father was walking to the grocery store, he noticed the situation and intervened to help bring two people to safety. As a result of this heroic act, my father was crushed by the debris until firefighters found him. My father is a 70-year-old veteran who had put his life on the line to ensure the safety of others. He is currently in Shock Trauma, where he has to undergo several surgeries due to this traumatic event. It has not been easy for us as a family to see what he is going through now. My father faced many adversities in his life, and we are prayerful that things will get better in time. We are asking for additional help for his medical expenses due to not knowing how much his insurance will cover. We thank you in advance from my family to yours!”
