Heroic dad suffers severe burns after rescuing his twin daughters from a house fire

On the night of July 16, Ray Lucas and his girlfriend, Shi’Ann Brown, both 23, made a quick 15-minute run to the corner gas station. When they got back, their house was on fire.

As soon as he saw their house engulfed in smoke, Ray, of Eastpointe, Michigan, instantly thought of his 18-month-old twin daughters Malaysia and Milan, whom he shares with Shi’Ann.

Ray saw his niece and mom standing at the door, and she told them, “Get the babies!”

He knew his babies were still inside, sleeping in the basement, and there was no time to waste.

“I just knew I had to get my babies out,” he said. “That’s what went through my mind.”

Without hesitation, Ray rushed inside the burning home to rescue his babies. Shi’Ann also went in but couldn’t see where she was going and collapsed. Luckily, Ray found a way to get in just by his memory alone.

“You really couldn’t see your hand in front of your face – I really only found my babies due to my memory, just knowing where they were and knowing how to get to them – just from having that same route,” he recalled.

Thankfully, both girls made it out alive—thanks to their dad’s heroic efforts. However, they had to spend some time in the ICU to recover from their injuries. Malaysia was treated for severe burns, and Milan suffered smoke inhalation and second-degree burns.

Ray suffered the most severe injuries. He was severely burned in the electrical fire and sustained second and third-degree burns to his face, eyes, neck, arms, and other parts of his body, in addition to smoke inhalation.

“I was temporarily blind for three days and they said it was a miracle I could see,” he said. “I’ve got burns on my arms, but for the most part, everyone is still here.”

Due to the extent of his injuries, Ray is afraid that he will not be able to go back to work. They lost everything in the fire as their house was completely destroyed, and their medical bills continue to stack up.

Ray said they dealt with flooding the day before and thinks that might be related to the fire.

On July 22, Shi’Ann updated their family and friends about their situation via Facebook.

“These last couple days have been crazy but I just wanted to thank everybody for their support, whether it was prayers, money, clothes, anything, I’m truly grateful. My babies were discharged from the hospital yesterday & their Dad was also discharged. We are now at a hotel & we’re all just working on recovering.”

In the post, Shi’Ann mentioned that they are currently looking for a home and asked anyone who has information on housing and resources to contact her.

A woman named Gwendolyn Powell-Dixon organized a GoFundMe for the family.

“If anybody can support that’ll be great,” Ray said.

So far, their GoFundMe has raised $275,803, smashing its $40,000 goal.

The family also needs clothes for their twins, who both wear size 18-months clothes, 5C shoes, and size 5 diapers.

If anyone would like to donate via other platforms, Shi’Ann’s Cash App is $sademarieb.

Watch the video below from FOX 2 Detroit to learn more about this story.

We wish this family a speedy recovery, and we hope they get back on their feet as soon as possible.

Every share that this story gets will be a big help to Ray, Shi’Ann, and their twins—so please share away!