Nov. 24 (UPI) — Terry Bagley, a 70-year-old United States Marines veteran, remained hospitalized Thursday after saving a woman and child who were inside a Baltimore home when it exploded this week.
The explosion happened Tuesday at a rowhome in the city’s Pigtown neighborhood, also known as Washington Village. Bagley was passing by the home when it exploded and rushed inside to rescue a 16-year-old girl and 48-year-old woman while the building was burning. Both are in stable condition.
Bagley was pulled from the rubble of the explosion by Baltimore firefighters. The father of five is in critical condition. Caregivers have placed him in a medically induced coma with a broken pelvis, broken femur and broken hand.
“It was a brave thing for him to do, especially at his age being 70 years old,” his son, Terry Bagley Jr., told WBAL-TV. “When I see him looking, sometimes, lifeless, it scares me because I don’t know if he hears me when I’m talking, and I see some action with his fingers moving and stuff like that. But at the end of the day, I’m still scared because anything could go wrong.”
Daughter Eris Bagley said she believed her father reacted the way he did because he is a Marine.
“He thought nothing about his own life to save two women that he did not know,” she said.
During an interview with WJZ-TV Wednesday, Bagley’s son said his father wiggled his toes and opened his eyes.
A fundraiser is ongoing via GoFundMe, organized by Terry Bagley Jr. It has raised about $16,000 toward its $150,000 goal with more than 230 donations after opening on Wednesday.
