As they lay side by side on the pavement, Brian Ferrie made a promise to the elderly man he had just risked his life to save from his blazing home.
He told him that they would meet again under better circumstances.
Brian, 40, from Menzieshill, didn’t stop to think twice about his own safety when he rushed to the aid of the elderly man whose Douglas home was destroyed in a fire last month.
Brian said: “It all happened so quickly but after we both got out I leant over and kissed him on the cheek and made him a promise.
Frantic shouting
” I promised him that if we both survived I would find him afterwards so we could speak.
“I now know that the man survived but unfortunately I have no idea where he is.
“I would love to find him so I can keep my promise.”
The drama unfolded on July 27, when fire broke out in the pensioner’s home in Ballantrae Place.
Brian had been at his brother Tommy Grierson’s house just a few metres away.
The pair had been playing football outside when Tommy, a paramedic, realised the house was ablaze.
Neighbours were frantically shouting that the elderly resident was inside.
Brian said: “We saw that someone was throwing stones at the house to try to break the window but it was having little effect.
“I grabbed a big paving slab and managed to smash the window. I cleared the glass from the windowsill and climbed up and shouted to the old man.
“The room was full of smoke and flames and I couldn’t see him. I was on a sideboard that was against the window so I was able to get a little further into the room.
Explosion just minutes away
“My brother was shouting that after the oxygen hit the fire I had five minutes to get him out or else we would be faced with an explosion and neither of us would survive.”
Brian said that he finally located the old man and begged him to try to meet him half way to the window so he could be pulled out to safety.
Brian said: “I eventually saw him lying on the couch and he said he couldn’t get to me.
“By this time people outside were yelling to me to get out but there was no way I was going to leave him in there to die.”
Brian said that the man eventually got himself on to the ground and began to make his way towards the window.
Brian said: “I just grabbed his hand and he hugged me. That was a really emotional moment but I knew that we had to get out of there.”
Brian was able to drag him up to the smashed window where several hands reached out to grab them both.
As the pair lay on the ground Tommy rushed over to check them both and stayed with them till the emergency services arrived.
Brian said: “I managed to get up but I had burns and cuts from the broken glass.
“But at least we were both still alive.
“I honestly thought we might both die in there.”
Brian said he was aware the old man was discharged from hospital a few days later and was staying in a hotel.
‘I want to know how he is’
He said: “I would just like to know he is OK and it would be amazing to be able to keep the promise I made to him as we lay there.
“Everyone in the community was there for us both that day, they all pulled together and it was amazing.”
Tommy, 29, said: “We are just so glad we could help the old man. Brian did a great job getting him out.
“I was lucky to be able to use my training to provide the initial medical support while we waited for the emergency services to arrive.
“We would love to be able to meet up with him and just give him a cuddle.”
Claire Collins, who also lives in Ballantrae Place, helped console her neighbour on the pavement once he was pulled to safety.
She has since set up a Facebook page asking for donations to help him once he is rehomed.
Mother-of-two Claire, who is a psychology and counselling student, said she held the OAP’s hand shortly after he was pulled to safety from the fire.
Firefighters from Blackness Road, Kingsway, McAlpine Road stations in Dundee as well as Broughty Ferry, extinguished the main fire in around an hour but more flare ups occurred over night with fire appliance remaining at the scene.
Anyone who wishes to donate can contact Claire on the Dundee Community Spirit Facebook page.
Woman gathers donations as Dundee community rallies round OAP after devastating fire