He Was Already a Hero After Saving Two Neighbor Kids From a Flaming Home -- What He Did to Save the Third Is Even More Remarkable

He's a low-key hero.

"I don't drink but I sure could use one today!" Eddie Hamilton joked to WGCL-TV.

Hamilton may be a down-to-earth guy, but on Monday morning, he leapt into action in an extraordinary way, WGCL reported, rescuing three kids from a burning neighbor's home in DeKalb County, Georgia.

Image via WGCL-TV

The fire erupted just before 8 a.m., and while the children's mother escaped from their burning home and yelled for help, Hamilton smashed through a window.

"[The two younger kids] were at the window screaming when I knocked it out," Hamilton told WGCL. "I just told them to back up. I knocked it out and got them out."

Eddie Hamilton. (Image via WGCL-TV)

The 10-year-old boy and 13-year-old girl were safe, but Hamilton had to go back into the home and crawl through smoke to find the last kid, a 17-year-old boy.

"You couldn't see nothing, you couldn't breathe inside," Hamilton said. "I came to the window twice, got air crawled back in there again until I could find [him]. I could hear him moaning, he wasn't all the way out."

Hamilton dragged the teen to the window, where DeKalb County firefighters pulled him to safety.

The teenager was hospitalized, but survived the inferno thanks to Hamilton's quick and selfless thinking, firefighters told WGCL.

One person was particularly pleased about Monday's show of heroism: Hamilton's wife.

"I'm very proud of him," she said. "I am."

CBS46 News

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