TOLEDO, Ohio — UFC Hall of Famer and former champion Mark Coleman called himself “the happiest man in the world” as he embraced members of his family from a hospital bed.

Coleman was airlifted to a hospital on Wednesday after saving his parents from a house fire in Ohio this week, according to daughter Morgan Coleman. On Thursday, an emotional video was posted to Mark Coleman’s Instagram.

“I swear to God, I’m so lucky,” Coleman said in the video. “I can’t believe my parents are alive. I had to make a decision. I got out of my room and went to the door and it was already horrible. I couldn’t breathe. I almost had to go outside, but I went back and got them. I can’t believe it.”

Morgan Coleman had posted that her father went into the burning house several times and was able to bring out his mother and father. Coleman said at the time that her 59-year-old father was “battling for his life after this heroic act.”

Hammer, the family dog, awakened Coleman to the blaze around 4 a.m. Tuesday, the family said on a GoFundMe page. Coleman pulled his father from the burning home, then his mother, before attempting to save the dog, who ultimately died.

“I got them (his parents) but couldn’t find Hammer,” Coleman said in the Instagram video.

Coleman, from Fremont, Ohio, was UFC’s first heavyweight champion in 1997 when he defeated Dan Severn. He won 16 of 26 fights over his 14-year career and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2008.

Before his MMA career, Coleman was a standout wrestler. He won a national championship at Ohio State and a silver medal at the 1991 world championships. He also earned a seventh-place finish at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics.

Morgan Coleman has organized a gofundme.com site for her father, raising more than $70,000 as of Thursday afternoon.

Copy the Story Link

« Previous

Lawmakers hear overwhelming support for tax credit for Hadlock Field renovations

Next »

NLRB certifies union to represent Dartmouth basketball players