What started as a normal summer evening in Cape Breton for two teenaged friends quickly became a night they will never forget.
Mitchell Boutilier and Chris Marsh were walking along a street in North Sydney, when they noticed something was wrong at their neighbour’s home.
“We got to the end of the driveway there,” explains Boutilier. “We saw smoke coming out of the window. So we came to check it out. We opened the screen door, then the big door, the window was open on it, and the smoke started pouring out.”
The boys started pounding on the door and peering through the smoke filled window.
They were concerned for, their neighbour and friend, Lloyd Bona who was still inside.
“When his bike was there, we realized he was in there,” exclaims Boutilier. “Then I started kicking the door through, and I just about got it. Then I heard him getting up and start running through his house and I stopped. He opened the door. You were couching pretty bad, weren’t you Lloyd?”
“I didn’t know there was a fire in there,” adds Bona. “I opened it up, and whoosh.”
Bona says he had been cleaning a pot with fresh oil.
He says he’s usually quite careful, but that night, he laid down for just a moment and fell asleep.
If the boys had not been knocking on the door, Bona says he probably would not have woken up.
“I was out cold.”
It was a memorable day for Boutilier, before the rescue, the teenager was celebrating his 15th birthday.
“Feels pretty good to save a life on your birthday,” he says. “You know, there’s really nothing else like it.”
The boys are being called heroesand it’s a title that could soon be made official.
North Sydney Fire Chief Lloyd MacIntosh says what they did was remarkable and he says they should be recognized.
“A certificate of something,” suggests MacIntosh. “That might be available for them. That might memorialize the day.”
For now, Mitchell Boutilier and Chris Marsh have received a heartfelt message from the man they rescued.
“I would like to thank them from the bottom of my heart,” says Bona. “I’m very grateful that these guys were on the scene. They overwhelm me.”
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Ryan MacDonald.
