RACINE COUNTY — At Children’s Hospital with her son is not how Victoria Diaz planned to end her week but after a fire nearly took her 4-year-old's life Wednesday, she’s been there.
The mother of four told TMJ4’s Tahleel Mohieldin as she was setting up for a day of fun with the family, some commotion outside caught her attention.
“I hear screaming and yelling. I live on a very busy street and there’s always something going on,” Diaz recalled. “But, in my heart, I feel like they're talking to me.”
When she went to investigate she saw that her home on Douglas Avenue and Yute Street in Racine was on fire. Diaz’s first was of her son, Angel Perez, who was still inside.
Watch: Mom recounts terrifying fire that nearly killed her son
“I see smoke flames, all this, and where's my son? So I'm looking for him, cuz he literally was just right there,” Diaz explained. “I’m looking in the room, not there. I look in my room, not there but I’m seeing flames. I look in the back room, I don’t see him at all.”
Diaz said it was then that she, diagnosed with severe asthma, started to feel lightheaded like she was going to faint. So she went outside to get some air but it wasn’t long before she went back inside the burning house in the hopes of finding her son.
“Because a good mother would have died in there saving her baby,” Diaz said fighting tears.
Bystanders tried to help too but ultimately it was firefighters who rescued the young boy, found hiding under his bed. His mother was not yet sure of his condition.
"There's nothing I could do at the moment, just but pray. Just believe and have trust,” Diaz said. “I want to say thank you to every single person that helped.”
Diaz said she takes comfort in knowing her prayers were answered. Friday her son was breathing on his own, with “not one scratch” and was set to be transferred out of the ICU.
She is now asking for the community’s helpin making sure her son has a home to get to when he’s discharged. Diaz said she’s choosing to once again have faith that there are people out there willing to help, thankful for the blessing she’s gotten so far.
“Everything in the house is black. It’s burnt to ashes done. Where my son was hiding in his room, under his bed, that entire bed is not touched it’s intact,” Diaz said, “which I believe was God’s hands holding and protecting him."
A new release from the Racine Fire Department noted the cause of the fire is not yet known. Two firefighters were hurt responding to the incident with one requiring medical attention at a local hospital for a minor injury.
The fire caused an estimated $240,000 in damage to Diaz’s house and belongings.
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