As part of ESPN's College Gameday, reporter Gene Wojciechowski tells the story of Michigan tight end Erick All, who nearly lost his life as an infant in a 2001 fire.
Now, 21 years later, All meets the firefighter who saved his life.
On Feb. 13, 2001, in Richmond, IN, 5-month-old Erick All was rescued from a burning building by Lt. Tom Broyles of the Richmond, IN, Fire Department.
Video from that day shows Broyles climbing a ladder to a second-story window. When he breaks the window, heavy black smoke comes pouring out.
Broyles said he couldn’t see a thing, but bumped into All’s playpen.
“I reached down and grabbed him. I could feel him, but I couldn’t see him,” Broyles said.
“I just scooped him up and tried to find a window. I thought he was dead.”
The firefighter on the ladder brought him down and passed him off to Shawn Phenis, a firefighter/EMT with Richmond, who has since retired.
“He was dead,” Phenis recalls. “As I was walking to the cot I was doing mouth-to-mouth. As we were putting him back in the truck, I could hear him gasp, cry.”
All spent 10 days in an Indianapolis hospital.
Years later, All met Phenis, but he had not met Broyles. Broyles, in fact, never knew what became of Alls until Michigan made the College Football Playoff last year.
“Another fireman had a picture and said, ‘Hey, you know who this kid is? It’s the kid from 5th Street!’ It was amazing!”
All and Broyles reunited on Sept. 5. But that wasn’t the only reason this day was special. All’s son was born at 7:30 that morning.
Life had indeed, come full circle.
