A group of firefighters from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, have carried a paralyzed woman and her wheelchair up 13 floors, after she got stuck at home as she was unable to leave due to a faulty elevator.
In a post shared on TikTok earlier in August by the woman, Haleigh Rosa, under the username Halrosa, a firefighter can be seen carrying her up the stairs on his back, with another following with her wheelchair.
In the clip that has since gone viral on social media, Rosa can be heard asking the firefighter who is carrying her: "Am I choking you?" He jokingly answers: "A little bit," although he also added: "That's what we train for."
The clip comes with a caption that says: "POV: You're paralyzed and stuck on floor 31 so the fire department rescues you." Followed by: "Thank you [very] much FTL Fire Dept I luv you!!!!"
Rosa told Newsweek that after a flood affected her building, the elevators stopped working and management was unable to tell her how long she'd be stuck indoors for, so she had to leave.
"The option was to go up 13 floors and cross over to the other side of the building where we could use their elevator banks, or down 23 flights. The firemen chose to go up 13."
A few days later, Rose decided to do something nice for the firemen, so she went to the fire station with a surprise for all of them.
"We had a nice reunion where I brought cookies to their station and they made me lunch," she said.
According to the U.S. Fire Administration, most firefighters, more than 70 percent, are volunteers, and fewer than 10 percent are actually employed full time as firefighters.
@halrosa Thank you v much FTL Fire Dept I luv you!!!! #fire #paralyzed #injury #firedepartment
♬ original sound - Haleigh, like Berry
The video quickly went viral on social media, getting viewers from across TikTok. It has so far been viewed more than 14.2 million times and received 1.9 million likes on the platform.
One user, Anny, commented: "And everybody tells me not to go for the firefighters, but I want one." And Cass said: "The fact that you're just living life and recording them is sendinggg me... I love this."
Hannah wrote: "My bf is a firefighter and will literally just come and pick me up and take me wherever, no heavy breathing, no nothing." And Loud_bunnie said: "The wheezing when he answered 'A little bit.'"
Another user, Nikki, commented: "OK but did they all fall in love [with] you by floor 31? I need booktok to finish this story." And nick_ulses added: "As a fireman, I can confirm that it's always at the top it's never on the lower floors. Ever."
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About the writer
Maria Azzurra Volpe is a Newsweek Lifestyle Reporter based in London. Her focus is reporting on lifestyle and trends-related stories, ... Read more
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