HOFFMAN, N.C. — State Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union, was traveling with his wife, Anne, to Raleigh Monday morning in Richmond County when they saw smoke coming from a mobile home along Highway 1.
The veteran lawmaker went to the home where he saw a 77-year-old woman in a wheelchair at the door.
Esther’s wheelchair was stuck on a blanket and she couldn’t move as flames raged in the home.
“Poor thing,” Arp said. “She was just terrified. There was just so much heat. So much smoke in there. I reached down to pull her wheelchair and she was entangled in that blanket I think why she wasn’t able to get out.”
‘The windows were popping and it just literally 3 or 4 minutes and the whole place was engulfed,” Arp said.
Esther and her family prayed with Arp before she was taken to a hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Her niece, Koren Hailey, said it was God who touched Arp’s heart that day.
“Knowing he is man of faith and our entire, basically our entire family is people of faith,” Hailey said. “Because we’ve endured a lot. (A) few years with death and devastation. Things that are going on. It was good to know Mr. Arp and his wife stopped here without thinking twice.”
Hailey says Esther is battling cancer and a stroke a few years ago landed her in the wheelchair.
Despite all that, she says her aunt loves to help other people.
On Thursday, her rescue was honored on the floor of Congress.
“Not everyone would have the courage to step up and engage but Rep. Arp clearly has a hero’s heart,” said Rep. Mark Harris.
Arp says this is just the start. He wants to do more to help Esther.
“That’s a special bond,” Esther said. “(I) haven’t been able to see her yet. Of course, I look forward to continuing that relationship that will never change.”
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