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15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life

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Green Goth Brit Chick - AlternatEve
01/05/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
Kept her head, remembered that smoke and not fire tends to be the killer and adapted for it, did everything right, props to her! Glad everyone's ok.
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victoriasauce
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
By the way...I totally sported that little kid's hairstyle in high school.
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victoriasauce
01/04/09

@torieandrahmsittinginatree: LOL @ not closing the italic after totally. Can't catch a break today!
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haricot
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
Don't hate me or anything, but I don't understand why this story is news. Don't you always have to go alert someone of a fire or go get a cat or a baby or little sibling when there is a fire? Wouldn't everybody go save a family member? Unless you're alone in the house, it's kind of a given.
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midwesternmom
01/04/09

@haricot: Yeah, but she didn't panic, she ran upstairs instead of out the nearest door, and she took steps to protect her sister from the harmful smoke. She kept her wits about her, and that deserves a public pat on the back.
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midwesternmom
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
Chantal should get a free pass from being grounded the next time she screws up. "Hey Mom, remember when I saved Savanah? Yeah, well if I hadn't been sitting around watching TV and not doing my chores I never would have heard that alarm. But if you want me to go run the loud vacuum I will, but I won't be responsible for the consequences."
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SomeAuthorGirl
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
I got teary reading this before I could stop myself. I love news that doesn't make me want to break shit. Though I do want to know what brand of sick asshole you would need to be to leave your sibling (or, um, anyone that you don't hate and think deserves to die) in a burning house... I'm certainly no hero, upstanding citizen, or sentimental love-crazy nut, but jesus, I love my little brother, of course I would save him from a burning building.

I can't decide if this makes me a rational human being or a hopeless, black-hearted cynic.
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♥AntiSocialSocialite♥
01/05/09

@SomeAuthorGirl: i'm sure there's some 'fuck you kid, i'm out of here' contingent that never gets written about.
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Plum-Pie
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
What is that cracking sound? It is the cockles of my heart warming...

And I thought my big sister was cool for teaching me to read.
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cuteasabutton
01/04/09

@Plum-Pie: My heart is now at lukewarm temperature after reading this.
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JinxyMcDeath
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
I would never forgive myself if I didn't try and save my baby sister who is almost a decade younger than me. I give this girl major props, though. And a happy ending to boot!
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morninggloria
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
I would have done the same thing, out of love for my siblings, but also out of fear for how fucking pissed my mom would have been at me if I just left them upstairs sleeping while the house burned down.
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haguenite
01/04/09

@morninggloria: I know, right?! If she's anything like me, this girl's mind went "fuckfuckfuck I need to get out of here, but mom'll KILL ME if I leave the little worm upstairs!"

But then I used to push my sister and when she'd cry I'd offer her a Mars bar so that my mother wouldn't find out, so yeah. Perhaps I'm not the best person to talk about warm siblinghood.
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cuteasabutton
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
ERIN CAFFEY THIS IS THE WAY YOU LOVE AND WHAT YOU DO FOR FAMILY.
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RodetheTrolleywithStanwyck
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
Oh dear, I would totally be using this as an argument ender with my sister until the end of time.

The one time there was a "Fire incident" growing up, was when I was watching my younger brother while I was home from college. He wanted some Elio's pizza, so I preheated the oven. My parents were apparently using the oven as a PLACE TO STORE OLD EMPTY PIZZA BOXES. Thus, the house filled with smoke.

I had to call 911, then evacuate the household: my younger brother and 3 overweight, barrel-shaped cats. While we stood outside with our arms full, the firefighters showed up. Nothing was burned down, but they seemed to think that I put full pizza boxes in the oven "to cook the pizza". One had a snappr remark like, "Next time you want a pizza, call takeout!"
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Le Kangourou de Kataroo
01/04/09

@RodetheTrolleywithStanwyck: I set off the fire alarm multiple times in one week in college by accident - the first time I burned butter trying to make pancakes, the second time I microwaved my (metal) travel mug, the third time I opened the door after an exceptionally hot shower and the steam set off the dorm alarms. Luckily the 3rd time was such a weird freak accident I never got in trouble for it, though I did get a date with a fireman who offered me his coat as I was standing evacuated in my towel crying.
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RodetheTrolleywithStanwyck
01/04/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: Wow, the steam set off the alarm?? That was some week...

I suspect that my apartment's smoke/fire alarms don't work. About three months ago, I was roasting a chicken and my pyrex glass dish magically shattered, sending plumes of chicken-y smoke into my dollhouse-sized apartment. Not a peep from the alarm.
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Kivrin
01/04/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: Oh man, I used to get so mad at the people who tried to cook in the crappy dorm kitchen, because they were ALWAYS setting off the fire alarms! You people and your damn pancake-making! Can't you just eat cold Pop Tarts like everyone else?! :-P (Kidding, of course! I actually loved it when my neighbor got the urge to bake and brought me warm brownies!)
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Le Kangourou de Kataroo
01/04/09

@RodetheTrolleywithStanwyck: @Kivrin: We had a fire drill almost every frickin' day because they didn't clean the dust out of the smoke alarms after renovations, so the tiniest thing would set them off. After 3 other people's showers set off the alarms, they went through and fixed everything.
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whats_in_a_name
01/04/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: Those are some sensitive alarms. I have a friend who once caught a pot of boiling water on fire. It was really some stuff stuck to the bottom of the pot, but its much more fun to tease her about catching water on fire. And when makeing Kraft easy mac, what ever you do do not forget to put the water in the bowl.
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Kivrin
01/04/09

@whats_in_a_name: Kraft Easy Mac was by far the most common culprit in our dorm "fires." Never heard of a shower setting off alarms though -- that is crazy!

Ah, dorm life. I miss it sometimes.
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aubonpam
01/04/09

@RodetheTrolleywithStanwyck: Thank you for giving me the mental image of you rescuing 3 "Barrel Shaped" cats!
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onestrawplz
01/04/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: My dorm is a brand new building on campus, and the first week of school ANYTHING and EVERYTHING would set off the fire alarms, and we evacuated at least 10+ times in the first week.

You shouldn't feel too bad, because one of the incidents that set the alarms off was caused by a bright young fellow who thought it would be brilliant to leave some onions to caramelize on the stovetop while he took a shower.
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kikichanelconspiracy
01/04/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: Let me guess: finals week? I burned my hand pretty badly during finals because I overcooked an empty tea pot. Super tired genius that I was, I immediately put water into the piping hot kettle. Voila steam burns. The saddest part: I majored in biology and minored in chemistry in college, so I took collegiate level physics. D'oh!
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Green Goth Brit Chick - AlternatEve
01/05/09

I was only in Uni accomodation for a month, yet I caused the calling of three fire engines, two ambulances and a police car - each was a seperate incident.

I'm soooooo glad I don't live around there any more, I'd be too ashamed to leave the house, like, ever.
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YourScreenplaySucks
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
This heart-warming event officially ends little Savanha's rights to play the "I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you, I'm not touching you...I'm not!" game.
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sassyredhead
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
I love real-life heroes!
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Glitterbug (likes life shaken, not stirred)
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
MyNameIsChris - My god, I was just thinking that! Great minds think alike...

This story makes me all happy and fuzzy inside :)
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cuteasabutton
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
Yes! There is good in the world. I knew it was there somewhere.
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YourScreenplaySucks
01/04/09

@cuteasabutton...has a new avatar for '09 bishes.: My faith in humanity is restored. At least until the next Jezebel story is posted.
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MyNameIsChris
01/04/09

In reply to 15 Year Old Girl Saves Her Younger Sister's Life
If I were the older sister, I would use this as an argument ender with my younger sister all the time, for the rest of our lives.
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Le Kangourou de Kataroo
01/04/09

@MyNameIsChris: "Oh yeah... remember that time I SAVED YOU FROM A BURNING BUILDING? That's what I thought. Now bring me the remote."
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haguenite
01/04/09

@MyNameIsChris: No kidding.

This is very cute, and much more heartening than the story about a family in the north of my country, who were surprised by a fire in their home just before Christmas and actually had to choose which children to save first (they had 4) and the two they "left to grab later" didn't make it...
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cuteasabutton
01/04/09

@MyNameIsChris: @Le Kangourou de Kataroo: Brilliant.
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whats_in_a_name
01/04/09

@haguenite: I'm sure they aren't yours but "left to grab later" was an terrible choice of words to describe a terrible situation.

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: Ha, my sister still uses the time we were fighting over who got to open the fence gate and she ended up with stitches above her eye against me.
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JinxyMcDeath
01/04/09

@MyNameIsChris: Totally agreed. However, I forget where I heard this story (I'm leaning towards "This American Life" on NPR), but a sister received a life or death kidney transplant from her brother and now all he does is bring it up all the time and to everyone they meet. She was all "look, I'm very grateful for what he did - I could never repay him - but does he have to talk about it every single day and to everyone we meet?" I kinda saw her point.
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girlnamedblue
01/04/09

@MyNameIsChris: I saved my sister from drowning when she was about three (five now). I can't wait til the day I can use that in a silly argument.
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NewsBunny
01/05/09

@Le Kangourou de Kataroo: I once saved my sister from choking by using the Heimlich. I had just learned it as a girl scout! I locked my arms around the rib cage, and did my little pump. Out popped whatever she was eating.

Is she grateful? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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