Cobb County firefighters save paralyzed woman from burning home using 'lifesaving' drug

KENNESAW, Ga. - Cobb County firefighters pulled a paralyzed, elderly woman from a burning home Tuesday night. That was just the beginning of their extraordinary lifesaving measures.

"All of a sudden, you see this big ball of fire. I come over here, and I see this whole fire on the other side of the house," said Andrew Bunn, a resident.

"It went all the way across the attic to the other side of the house," said Nicola Bunn, who owns the Kennesaw home on North Hampton Drive.

Nicola Bunn's mother was the only one home when the fire tore through it.

The first Cobb County Firefighters who arrived immediately went into rescue mode. Even before the water truck was there, they went into the burning home to find the woman trapped inside.

Cobb County firefighters rescued an elderly woman from a burning home in Kennesaw. They say they saved her life after smoke inhalation by using Cyanokit, a drug they were one of the first teams in the country to administer.

"They understood, 'Hey we're going to go in ahead of the hose lines to get to this victim as quickly as possible,'" said Nick Danz with Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services.

They found the woman and pulled her to safety. They say she was coughing and had soot in her airway.

"They grabbed their equipment and started administering the Cyanokit," said Danz. "The Cyanokit is basically the antidote for cyanide poisoning which is usually caused by smoke inhalation and the toxic gases in the smoke in the everyday materials in your home that burn."

Cobb Fire officials say they were one of the first in the country to use a Cyanokit and say it's very effective. They've had to administer it 15 times since March.

"We had nine incidents where 15 patients were administered Cyanokit, and 10 of those patients survived, which is well above average," said Danz.

The woman who was rescued was rushed to the hospital and is expected to recover.

"Mum's fine, she's going to be fine. Thank God. She's my best friend. I'm just relieved," said Nicola. "It was very scary. You never dream something like this will happen."

Sadly, the family lost two dogs and six cats in the fire. 

While the loss is devastating, Nicola says many people have offered to help them, and she's looking forward to her mom being released from the hospital by the end of the week.