A former mixed martial arts champion reportedly emerged from a coma on Thursday after managing to rescue his elderly parents from a fire that ravaged his childhood home on Tuesday, where he was visiting.
“I am the happiest man on earth. Sweet God, I am so lucky. I can’t believe my parents are still alive,” former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight champion Mark Coleman cried as he hugged his two adult daughters at his wake up Thursday.
In a video shared by Kenzie and Morgan Coleman and reported by the BBC, we can see the trio’s emotional reunion when the 59-year-old woke up, who had been left in a coma after his parents’ home burned down Tuesday.
The fifty-year-old, who was then visiting his childhood home, was reportedly woken up around 4 a.m. by his rottweiler dog Hammer. He then managed, as best he could, to extricate his elderly parents from the burning house, before “risking his life” to rescue the dog, his daughters explained in a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign.
Unfortunately, the man collapsed due to smoke inhalation before reaching his beloved dog, who died in the flames of the fire, according to the British media.
“I had to make a decision because I walked out of my room and walked towards the door and it was already horrible. I couldn’t breathe. I almost had to go out, but I came back to get them. I can’t believe I got them, but I couldn’t find Hammer,” he recounted with emotion in his hospital bed, surrounded by his daughters.
Chris Doucette/Toronto Sun/QMI Agency
Mark Coleman became the first UFC heavyweight champion in 1997 before becoming the fifth fighter to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008, according to the BBC.
