JASON: DON’T CALL THEM HEROES, JUST CALL THEM NEIGHBORS.
THE PEOPLE WHO RAN INTO HARM’S WAY WERE JUST DOING WHAT THEY WANT PEOPLE TO DO FOR THEM.
WE TALK ABOUT THE MAJOR DISRUPTION THEY SAW IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD.
FROM THE DEAFENING SEISMIC BOOM -- >> I JUST JUMPED INTO ACTION.
JASON: TO THE DESPERATE CALLS FOR HELP.
>> WE HEARD THEM, HELP ME, I’M HERE I’M HERE, HELP ME.
I’M HERE.
JASON: ANTOINETTA PARISH WAS JUST ONE OF NEARLY A DOZEN PEOPLE WHO RAN TOWARD THE EXPLOSION IN NORTHWEST BALTIMORE ON MONDAY TO HELP HER NEIGHBORS BURIED UNDER THE RUBBLE.
>> WE TOLD THEM TO CALL OUT, CALL OUT.
JASON: AS THE UNBELIEVABLE SCENE UNFOLDED BEFORE THEIR EYES, NEIGHBORS LIKE ANTOINETTA, YASEEM HAMMETT, AND DEAN JONES SAY THEY DID WHAT ANYONE ELSE WOULD DO, AND STARTED DIGGING.
>> IT COULD BE ME AND MY GRANDFATHER.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN US.
>> I DID NOT THINK.
ONCE THEY SAID THERE WAS A KID IN THERE, I LOST IT.
I HAD TO GET IN THERE.
WHAT IF IT WAS ME?
I AM NOT A HERO.
I AM A HUMAN.
JASON: IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD, THE ONE COUNCILMAN YITZY SCHLEIFER GREW UP IN AND NOW REPRESENTS, THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT PEOPLE DO FOR ONE ANOTHER.
>> NEIGHBORS LOOK AFTER ONE ANOTHER.
WE CARE ABOUT ONE ANOTHER.
IT DOES NOT SURPRISE ME.
JASON: IT IS NOT JUST THOSE I THE COMMUNITY WHO STEP OUT TO HELP.
A SEA OF DONATIONS BEGAN POURING IN JUST HOURS AFTER THE NEWS BROKE, PALLETS OF WATER BOTTLES AND GATORADES, BUCKETS OF ICE, AND STACKS OF PIZZAS FOR ALL OF THE VICTIMS.
THE FIRST RESPONDERS ON THE SCENE, THE VOLUNTEERS AND FRIENDS AND FAMILY WHO CAME TO CHECK IN ON LOVED ONES A FLEET OF BUSES FROM THE MTA ARRIVED TO BRING PEOPLE
SOMEWHERE SAFE, AND FOR A PLACE TO STAY COOL ON A HOT AND HUMID SUMMER DAY.
AND EACH DAY, PEOPLE KEEP BRINGING MORE GROCERIES, TOLIETRIES, AND CLOTHING TO HELP ANY WAY THEY CAN.
>> IT IS NOT A LOT, BUT I WANTED TO DO SOMETHING.
THIS IS WHAT WE ARE SUPPOSED TO DO.
JASON: DOROTHY USED TO LIVE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND AS SOON AS SHE HEARD WHAT HAPPENED, SHE DROVE UP TO DONATE WHAT SHE COULD TO THE RED CROSS.
ONE OF THE ORGANIZATION’S POINT PEOPLE SAYS IN ALL OF HIS YEARS WITH THE RED CROSS, WITHOUT FAIL, EVERY TIME PEOPLE RISE TO THE OCCASION TO HELP EACH OTHER.
>> IT IS FAST, IT IS AMAZING.
IT IS A PUBLIC COMING TOGETHER IN TRAGEDY AND THAT IS WHAT MAKES MY HEART FEEL GOOD TODAY.
JASON: THOSE DONATIONS ARE A LIFELINE FOR FAMILIES TRYING TO PICK UP THE PIECES TO REBUILD THEIR LIVES IN THE AFTERMATH OF THIS DISASTER.
>> YOU CANNOT REPLACE YOUR LIFE.
>> WE ARE HERE TO TALK ABOUT IT.
>> THANK GOD.
I WAS SPARED FOR ANOTHER DAY.
IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME.
JASON: BUT NOT EVERYONE GOT OUT, TWO PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES IN THE EXPLOSION.
61-YEAR-OLD LONNIE HERRIOT AND JOSEPH GRAHAM, JR., A 20-YEAR-OLD MORGAN STATE STUDENT WHO DREAMED OF RUNNING HIS OWN BUSINESS.
>> HE WAS AN EXCEPTIONAL YOUNG MAN.
HE WAS GRACIOUS, KIND, LOVING, CHARMING.
I WILL ALWAYS MISS JOSEPH.
>> I FEEL FOR THE FAMILY.
I TALKED TO SOME OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS MISSING SOMEONE.
I DID MY BEST.
PEOPLE HERE REALLY TRIED TO HELP THEM.
JASON: FOR THE NEIGHBORS LIKE YASEEM AND ANTOINETTA WHO PUT THEMSELVES IN HARM’S WAY TO TRY AND HELP THE VICTIMS, THEY SAY THEY WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY.
BUT THEY HOPE THIS TRAGEDY REVEALS THE TRUE HEART OF OUR CITY AND ITS PEOPLE.
>> BALTIMORE IS GREAT AGAIN, AND WE CAN COME TOGETHER WHEN WE’RE SUPPOSED TO IN A TIME OF NEED.
PEOPLE DO CARE ABOUT ONE ANOTHER HERE IN THIS CITY.
JASON: FROM THAT CAME A HEROIC EFFORT WITH NEIGHBORS HELPING NEIGHBORS AND STRANGERS HELPING STRANGERS OVERCOME A TRAGEDY NO ONE SAW COMING.
WHILE WE WILL NEVER FORGET THE LIVES LOST, WE SHOULD ALSO NEVER FORGET HOW BALTIMORE B