Kids Lift Collapsed Roof Off Dad To Save His Life

One Iowa dad’s four children love to help him when he does small projects around the house, but now they’re being hailed heroes for what they did during a recent project at their grandmother’s home.

“We had it almost all of the way torn down. We were just waiting for it to fall the rest of the way,” Gannaway said. As a precaution, Gannaway gave his phone to his oldest son, 13-year-old Ethan, and told him to call 911 if anything bad happened to him while knocking the last bit of the shed down.

“It came down like it was supposed to, but then it flipped over sideways and knocked me out and pinned me underneath it,” Gannaway said about the roof, which knocked him unconscious as it crushed him to the ground. Ethan immediately called 911, but they knew they had to do more to save their dad. “He’s gasping for air. I must save him,” 9-year-old Addison said.

“Nothing is impossible if we set our minds to it and work together,” said Ethan. “My sister was right here, lifting up right here, and I was here pulling on this trying to get him out,” said Addison, who dragged her dad out despite recently injuring her arm playing softball. “I think the adrenaline kicked in because the roof is several hundred pounds,” Gannaway said.

“I’m amazingly proud,” said Gannaway, who was rushed to the hospital and treated for a broken sholder and several scrapes. “They did everything, everything so perfect. It means the world to me that they would jump in and do whatever they could to save me.”