INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (CNN/WXIN) -- An Indianapolis woman risked her own life to save a little boy trapped in a fire. She went into a burning home and pulled the child to safety.
The 911 calls came in several neighbors in the 3900 block of Boulevard Place. A home was burning, and as far as neighbors knew a mother and her two young children were still inside. Capt. Rita Burris says, "There was heavy fire showing when they got here, and reported entrapment."
The mom was able to carry her four-year old son outside to safety. But her 1-year-old boy was still inside. Neighbor Simone Buchholz says, "The mom was standing outside and she was yelling about the youngest child."
That's when several neighbors, including Ladonna Thomas, jumped into action. She says, "Honestly, God told me to. I don't know about everybody else but I have true faith and when He tells you to do something, you don't ask why. You just do it."
Ladonna and the others started breaking windows, calling to the boy to get him to run to the front of the house, away from the flames.
Eventually, she got on her hands and knees and crawled in through the front door. She says, "I said, 'Okay, this is what we're gonna do. We're going to play a game. Every time I say, 'Can you hear me, you say, yeah. And you follow my voice and I'm gonna follow yours, okay?' And he says, 'Yeah.' And I said, 'Can you hear me?' And he says, 'Yeah.'"
Moments later, the child was in her arms. She says, "I was willing to die for that boy today. And I'm just glad that God wrapped his arms around us and walked both of us out with minor injuries and we're able to go on with our lives."
Ladonna, who lost her own child seven years ago, has now saved another. And even though many are calling her a hero, she doesn't see it that way. She says, "I'm not a hero. If you are God's child and God speaks to you, do what he say. Okay? Because, at the end of the day, He's never wrong, He put you exactly where you need to be at the right time and it's never too late."
Local news station WXIN reports the rescued child's mother says the fire started while her older son was playing with a lighter.