Crane driver rescued man from a burning building — he didn't know the world would give back tenfold
A person's wishes might come true for the most unexpected reasons. Just like that, a crane operator never thought that one of his bucket list wishes would become a reality when he was saving a construction worker from a burning building. The man, Glen Edwards, put his own life at risk to save a person at the top of a building surrounded by flames and smoke, per ITV News. Soon after the incident, Edwards learned about his terminal cancer diagnosis, so a charity stepped in to fulfill his humble bucket list wish.
The fire occurred at a tower block in Reading Station Hill. "The smoke was absolutely intense, I could hardly see him, well, I couldn't see him. I knew he was there, he was standing on the edge of the building," Edwards recounted. "By the time I got the cradle on, he had about two metres of area he was standing on that wasn't alight. The adrenaline was out of the roof." But the man knew that he had to do the rescue because the worker had two girls who were 8 and 13 at that time. "I got a very heartfelt letter that would bring a tear to your eye." Edwards made the rescue possible with the help of a metal cage that is meant to carry people working on the facades of buildings, per a video by The Independent.
The man was waving his coat to send out a signal and Edwards saw that from the corner of his eye and jumped into action, per Good News Network. The wind was blowing the cage and the smoke about, making it difficult to take the cage to the man. At the same time, the stranded man could have suffered from lethal smoke inhalation if the wind had blown the other way. Edwards received help from his supervisor through the radio and could successfully bring the cage close enough to the building for the man to get inside. People cheered from down below as the person was finally rescued.
However, Edwards didn't know that he was suffering from tongue cancer when the incident happened and he received a diagnosis soon enough. Although the cancer was treated successfully, it came back. "The cancer has spread, unfortunately, to five places in my spine," the crane operator told ITV. But some good news was around the corner for him as the man and his wife met Gini Hackett at an awards ceremony in Reading. Hackett had started a charity called 'Bucket List Wishes' in memory of her mother and decided to do something special for Edwards when she learned about his terminal cancer diagnosis.
"I found it amazing to do this wish for him. He's really humble. What he did was incredible. He is a real hero to us, so we absolutely had to do something for him," Hackett remarked. The 66-year-old had a simple wish; he had moved into a new house and wanted to get new flooring and a garden shed. So the charity arranged the flooring, a new shed, kitchen equipment, vouchers for bedding, and also a fishing trip to Swanage. "This is unbelievable, what's happened to me, quite emotional really," the man expressed.