Man saved from hot home by neighbor, officer during wellness check

SIKESTON, Mo. (KFVS/Gray News) - Members of one Missouri community are thankful that a man is alive after he was saved by police and neighbors who helped him.

Neighbors in a neighborhood realized something was amiss with an elderly man who was residing in a home in a Sikeston neighborhood, KFVS reported.

Two residents went over to check on the man Friday. After a faint noise from inside the residence, they quickly called police for a wellness check.

Officer Brent Mullin responded and gained entry in the home. There they found the man lying on the floor in a very hot home and fading fast.

“Went to the back door, forced entry and walked in about five or six steps and I saw an individual laying on the ground that was in desperate need of medical attention,” Mullin said.

Mullin said the man was in that position on the ground for more than a day or possibly two with no air conditioning on or circulation throughout the house.

“It was very hot in that house,” Mullin said. “I guarantee it was 100 plus in that house. The heat index outside was probably 105 to 110 and inside the house, it was closed up. It was probably 120 degrees inside that house.”

Mullin said the man wasn’t hooked up to his oxygen source either and had moments left if it wasn’t for the individuals that checked on him.

Neighbor Michael Baker said the man was “hanging on by a thread.”

“He had even walked off and left his oxygen tank,” Baker said. “I don’t know if he stumbled away from it or what but he was just barely hanging on.”

The man was able to grip Officer Mullin’s hand a little bit to let him know he was still alive. Afterwards, an emergency medical service personnel showed up on scene and rushed him to a local hospital.

Baker recounts the events that led up to that moment. Baker was outside earlier Friday morning mowing a yard when he went over to the man’s house to see if he needed his lawn mowed as well.

“Went by his house and there was a guy there (outside), him and his dog, and he was waiting on him. Said he didn’t know what time he got up,” Baker said. “So, I knocked on the door, knocked on the door. He (the man inside the home) said ‘Yeah’. He did that about three or four times as I’m beating on the door but he never did come to the door.”

Baker then left but said things didn’t seem quite right there.

At this time, Baker’s son, Mandell Brandy was driving on his way down from the Columbia, Missouri, area. As soon as he arrived at his father’s house, they decided to go back and check on the man together.

“He (Brandy) came over there, climbed up on the fence, leaning towards the house and pecking on that and calling his name,” Baker said. “He said, “Pop, I think I hear him.’ Went in and that man was in dire straits. If it hadn’t had been for officer Mullin, ain’t no telling how things would come out.”

Officer Mullin, along with Baker and Brandy, stress the importance of checking on your neighbors, especially when conditions aren’t favorable like the recent high temperatures we’ve endured across the area.

“Whether it’s high heat, or just a normal beautiful day, if you can check on the people that you know are alone, older or kind of secluded, do that because it’s important to know they’re okay,” Brandy said.

The two gentlemen and officer that had a hand in saving this man’s life hopes that he gets the treatment he needs and makes a full recovery soon.

“I hope he makes a full recovery and he’s out in a week or two and living his life the way it should be,” Mullin said.

“I just want to see the man back moving around,” Baker said. “I just would like to see him back in the neighborhood.”

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