Ryan Pasborg

Ryan Pasborg rescued a boy and his mother from burning, Green River, Wyoming, February 2, 2022. The boy, 4, and his mother, 34, were prone on the kitchen floor of their split-level home after a fire broke out in an adjoining bedroom at night. Pasborg, 33, a derrickhand at an oil field, was driving to work when he smelled smoke and noticed flames coming from a front window of the home. After being alerted by three other siblings that had already escaped that their brother and mother remained inside, Pasborg entered the house through an exterior garage door and ascended some steps to the kitchen. Intense smoke prompted Pasborg to go to his hands and knees, at which point he crawled through the kitchen about 3 feet amid the sound of smoke detectors before locating the boy. Pasborg wrapped his right arm around the boy, crawled backward until he could stand, and then carried the boy through the garage to safety. Pasborg instructed the children to seek refuge inside his work truck before he reentered the home through the garage to search for their mother. He returned to his hands and knees and crawled amid intense heat and smoke until he also found the mother. He grasped her under the arms and dragged her through the kitchen, down the steps, and through the garage door to safety. Pasborg performed CPR on the woman, then drove her and the children to first responders at the end of their long driveway. The boy suffered burns to his arms and legs; he recovered. The mother suffered burns to over 60 percent of her body; she recovered. Pasborg inhaled smoke but did not require medical treatment.