HOUSTON — A 1-year-old was rushed to the hospital Tuesday morning after being seriously injured in a house fire in northeast Houston.
The baby's dad, Angel Ruiz, said it was the worst feeling in the world, pulling his son out of their burning home and seeing him lifeless.
Ruiz said at about 6 a.m., he woke up to smoke in his house on Antha Street near Lundy Road. He said he then yelled at his wife and daughter to get out and went looking for his son, but his room was filled with smoke and it was hard to get to him.
"When I run to my son's room to go grab him, I didn't see nothing," Ruiz said. "It was just a big ball of black smoke that hit me."
Ruiz described breaking the windows to his home to release smoke so he can get to his son.
"I just pulled his crib all the way far back and it all broke," he said.
Ruiz said he ran out of the house with his son in his arms but he wasn't moving.
“He was so unconscious," he said. He was so weak he was lifeless. The worst feeling."
Video from a Ring camera showed a neighbor running to Ruiz's burning home. That neighbor performed CPR on the baby while they waited on firefighters to show up. Fortunately, by the time a paramedic arrived, Ruiz said his son began gasping for air.
The baby was taken to the hospital where he was sent to ICU.
"Doctors saying nothing hurt him, they are just cleaning up everything he inhaled," Ruiz said.
Even though his home is a total loss, Ruiz is happy he was able to get the most precious things out just in time.
"I am just happy my family is fine," he said. "It's materialistic. Everything we will get it back. Hoping my son is in everyone's prayers."
Ruiz's neighbor has set up a GoFundMe account to raise funds to help his family get back on their feet.
The cause of the fire is still being investigated.