Don Osteen, a 69-year-old who earned a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars in Vietnam, is being heralded as a hero once again after saving his 3-year-old granddaughter’s life.
Sadly, however, he had to sacrifice his own life in the process.
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Don’s son Brendon says he was as devoted a grandfather as possible, spending every moment with little Paetyn as he could.
“That’s what he was, first and foremost, I mean he was all about that baby and she was all about him,” Brendon told KFOR .
And so, naturally, when disaster struck, Don didn’t hesitate to put himself in harm’s way for his granddaughter.
Don was about 15 to 30 feet away from the front door, lighting a candle next to the stove, when the house exploded.
“He wasn’t worried about himself at all,” Brendon said. “I’ll leave it at that, but save her was the message he was trying to get across and he did exactly that.”
“Not only was the fire devastating, but the entire house collapsed on them both during the fire,” family members wrote on a GoFundMe page. “Papa rushed to cover Pae with his body to save her from the collapsing house and flames.”
Don suffered third-degree burns over 70% of his body and sustained a collapsed lung and broken ribs.
But he got Paetyn out of the house, carrying her a quarter-mile up the driveway to get her to safety.
“He tried to get in his truck and his keys were melted to him,” Brendon said. “His phone was exploded in his pocket.”
Both Don and Paetyn were airlifted to hospital, and five days later, Don succumbed to his injuries.
“He knew that he did his job by saving the life of his Boo Boo Chicken,” Brendon wrote in tribute on Facebook . “He loved my daughter beyond unconditionally. And he gave it all for her to live. He was a God-fearing man who impacted so many people. And he will be missed dearly.”
Paetyn, meanwhile, is recovering “wonderfully.”
She’s been moved out of the pediatric ICU and into her own room, and has skin graft surgery coming up.
“The resilience of this little girl is more than most men I see nowadays,” Brendon wrote on Facebook . “One proud set of parents here. We’ve got a special one for sure.”
h/t: KFOR
