Nurse Dies While Trying to Rescue Paraplegic Patient from House Fire

A home nurse sacrificed her own life to save an elderly woman who is a paraplegic from a house fire Monday in Delhi, Louisiana.

Authorities said 64-year-old Gwendolyn Theus and her patient, a 71-year-old woman, were trapped in a bedroom of the home when a fire started that evening, KNOE reported.

“Officials say Theus tried multiple times to wheel the patient’s bed out of the home. This did not work. Eventually, Theus pulled the patient from her bed and tried to push her out of a window,” the article continued.

However, as she tried to save her patient, Theus succumbed to the smoke.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal said neighbors also tried to help the two escape out the window before firefighters arrived at the scene.

“Both were pulled from the home and CPR administered,” the post read, adding that the disabled woman was flown to a burn unit located in Mississippi and is expected to make a full recovery:

“Due to the extensive damage, deputies have been unable to access the scene in order to begin efforts to determine an area of origin or cause,” the post continued.

Authorities said the patient’s home did have working smoke alarms at the time.