Hearing an ominous beeping sound while his family slept, the young boy, who is wheelchair-bound, crawled into his parents’ bedroom to warn them.
As it turned out, the beeping was coming from their carbon monoxide detector. The house had a gas leak, originating from the stove, and no one was aware of it.
Angie Martinez told KHOU 11- “He’s our little hero. He saved our family.”
Angie and her sister, who was also sleeping at the family’s Texas home, woke up with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning but later recovered. Symptoms of exposure to the colorless, odorless gas can include headache, dizziness, weakness, vomiting, chest pain, and confusion.
Michael has met a great number of developmental milestones but has struggled with mobility since his birth. He was born at 27 weeks weighing just 3 pounds.
Diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Michael cannot walk unassisted and relies on a wheelchair, occasionally a walking frame, to get around. However, he admitted that “I don’t want to be in a wheelchair.”
After hearing of Michael’s heroics, the 7-year-old’s school teachers reached out to the news media to cover his story. Since then, Angie has received numerous messages from good Samaritans, wishing to contribute to the family’s fund for a new wheelchair.
Michael will also be undergoing future surgeries and therapies to help him be able to walk.