Young Man's Quick Thinking and Bravery Saved Wenatchee Woman's Dog From Fire
And now that woman, Jana Roy, wants the community to know how heroic Jayden Murillo is as he gets ready to graduate from Wenatchee High School
When Jana Roy’s house went up in flames, 17-year-old Jayden Murillo literally leapt into action. The Murillo family lives next door and when Jayden came out and saw smoke billowing out of broken windows in her home, he jumped the fence thinking Roy might be in the burning building.
“We thought she was still in there and that was the biggest concern,” he said. “And we heard the parrots screaming.”
Before the fire, Roy had owned six parrots and four dogs. Although she had left, the animals were still in the home and sadly none of the birds made it. Roy said it was probably the smoke that killed them and they probably perished early, so what the Murillos heard was most-likely her smoke alarm.
As Jayden’s father started spraying the house with a hose Jayden and a jogger, who has never identified, opened a sliding glass door at the rear of the house and entered Roy’s bedroom.
“You couldn’t see anything. There was smoke to the brim,” he said. “We were like crawling on all fours trying to like find anyone.”
He found three of Roy’s dogs in the smoke, but two were too afraid and he couldn’t get them to come with him. But he got Kloie, Roy’s 17-year-old shepherd mix, out.
“You were the hero that day,” she said to Jayden. “She definitely wouldn’t have made it without you.”
Later firefighters recovered Gus, a shih tzu mix, as well as her two other dogs. Unfortunately the other two did not make it.
But without the actions of Jayden, the unidentified jogger and firefighters, Roy wouldn’t have any of the companions she loves so much.
And although the fire was nearly one year ago now Roy said wanted to give a shout out and publicly thank Jayden now because he is getting ready to graduate from Wenatchee High School and she wants the community to know how heroic this young man is.
“In the middle of a terrifying situation, he showed courage, compassion, and genuine concern for someone else’s family and pets,” she wrote. “I believe his actions and character deserve recognition as he graduates from Wenatchee High School.”
Author’s Note:
These are my favorite kinds of stories to write.
It’s not just Jayden’s bravery that makes it a great story. It’s the fact that Roy wanted to give Jayden his flowers now in a public way so the wider community can celebrate him during an important and special time in his life.
It’s also about knowing that we live in the kind of community full of people who wouldn’t hesitate to express warm feelings toward Jayden should they happen to cross paths with him.
In a time when things feel so bleak on the national level, when the system at a macro-level seem to be ran by corrupt idiotic bullies with the sole goal of enriching themselves and further entrenching hegemonic fascism, it’s comforting to see proof that at least people still care about their neighbors enough to rush into burning buildings in order to try to save them.
All is not lost in a world where there are Jaydens. Every day we could benefit by being a little more like Jayden that day. Take some brave and kind and selfless action daily. That is my challenge to myself. Obviously that doesn’t mean rushing into a house fire everyday, but if we all did something that took a little bravery, kindness and selflessness every day the ripple effect could be huge.
Time to channel our inner Jaydens.
What a hero!
Brave young man 💙