14 DAY TRIAL // For some reason, some care so much about their gadgets and gizmos that they would do just about anything to keep them out of harm's way. The thing is that, while trying to protect them, they too often put themselves in danger.
Let the story of 44-year-old Wendy Rybolt serve as a reminder that, as cool as one's phone might be, it's never a good idea to run into a house that is pretty much engulfed in flames looking to retrieve it and return it to safety.
According to CI News Now, it was earlier this week that this woman lost her life while trying to rescue her phone from a burning house. The incident occurred in the village of Bartonville in Illinois, US, the same source informs.
The woman's home caught fire on Tuesday, in the early hours of the morning. Wendy Rybolt and her daughter managed to make it out of the house. However, when she realized that she had forgotten her phone, Wendy went back inside.
While the woman was busy trying to find her phone and save it from the flames, firefighters arrived at the scene. They were told that Wendy was inside the house, and they immediately rushed to her rescue.
By them, the flames had gotten so bad and the house was pretty much drowning in smoke. Hence, the firefighters failed to find the woman and bring her to safety. The smoke and the heat eventually killed 44-year-old Wendy.
Later on, the woman's lifeless body was recovered from inside the house. A medical examiner pronounced her dead at about 4:30 in the morning. It is believed the woman passed away from smoke inhalation long before the flames got to her.
Commenting on this incident, a local police officer wished to stress the fact that, regardless of how much one might cherish one gadget or another, trying to save them from a burning home or from some other catastrophe is something nobody should ever do.
“Material things can be replaced. You never want to go back in to retrieve anything. In this, there was heavy smoke. Carbon monoxide will get you, and you may not even know it,” Chief Brian Fengel of the Bartonville Police Department said in a statement.
For the time being, the cause of the fire that killed 44-year-old Wendy Rybolt is still unknown. An investigation is ongoing, and police officers expect they will soon know how and why the house fire responsible for this woman's death started.