Douglas, MA – A 10-year-old Douglas boy is being hailed for saving his brother.
On Wednesday morning, Brayden Wilcox woke up to the sound of beeping.
I thought it was the smoke detector, Wilcox said.
Wilcox’s older brother, who was also in bed, heard the beeping and ignored it.
I just thought it was a low battery alert, because usually we have that on our smoke detectors. As I was half asleep and thinking to myself, ‘Oh, it’s nothing big. I should probably just go back to sleep,” said Wilcox’s brother, Josh.
Wilcox’s mother, who happened to call during the incident, told Brayden to check the carbon monoxide detector downstairs and Bradyen quickly realized the detector was going off.
So, I woke up my brother. We went outside and then we called the fire department, Brayden said.
Firefighters say they immediately detected high carbon monoxide levels when they arrived.
Brayden’s mother, Brenda, was on the phone with Brayden during the entire incident.
It was a feeling of helplessness. I still have knots in my stomach thinking of what could have happened, she said.
Bradyen had some help. He recently complete the fire department student fire awareness program. He says the program’s lessons helped him realized what was happening inside his house.
Firefighters say they will nominate Bradyen for a young hero award.
Nobody was hurt during the incident. The family believes the carbon monoxide leak came from a furnace in the basement. The family has repaired the furnace and bought three new detectors.