VIDEO: Pierre Gibbons, the man who ran into a burning home in Patterson Park to rescue his neighbor in Sept. 2019, was honored Wednesday with an award for his heroism.
Gibbons was awarded the Carnegie Medal for his act of valor. On September 23, 2019, Gibbons ran in to rescue the elderly woman who lived inside the burning home on North Rose Street, suffering life-threatening injuries, including burns to more than 70% of his body, that kept him hospitalized for months with a 10% chance of survival.
The neighbor he rescued, Sandy Sterling, later died.
At a ceremony Wednesday, he reiterated a constant theme: he doesn’t consider himself a hero.
“I’m kind of like, ‘Am I a hero or am I the dude who ran into a fire like an idiot?’ I don’t know, still working on that,” he joked.