Only 100 pounds dripping wet, with a sweet smile and a steely determination easily missed with her small stature, Johnnie Blount has been through two surgeries, a fire that severely damaged her home and a broken leg requiring numerous hospital visits. But even with all the challenges mounting before her, this 63-year-old refuses to give up.

“I refuse to let this bring me down,” she says with a glint in her eye.

Her friend, Kenneth, who survived the fire, agrees. “All you have to have is determination,” he says.

On May 26, Johnnie returned home from surgery exhausted, and went to lie down. She was startled awake by the piercing voice of her grandson, “Get out! Get out! Fire!”

“All I could think about at that time was getting those kids out of the house,” she says emotionally. She started screaming for everyone to go outside.

With limited mobility from a recent back surgery, Johnnie, unfortunately, did not have the same option.

Her friend, Kenneth, tried desperately to get to Johnnie through the smoke. When he found he couldn’t, he pleaded desperately with firefighters to go to her.

The house was full of smoke and incredibly dark when a lone firefighter reached Johnnie’s bed. After determining that Johnnie could not walk, the firefighter evacuated the fragile woman through the house. By the time they had reached the street and her family, Johnnie was screaming from the pain of a broken leg. A few minutes later, she lost consciousness.

Outside, Kenneth waited with Johnnie’s family as volunteers from the Red Cross arrived with clothes and other supplies for the kids. Minutes later, he breathed a sigh of relief as the firefighter emerged with Johnnie. Now everyone was safe, and he started talking with the Red Cross about what to do next. Their family needed a place to stay, food and clothes.

Johnnie awoke a few minutes later with medical technicians standing over her. She begged to know if her family was okay. Once she had their assurances, she consented to go to the hospital to have her leg treated.

Two hospital visits and hours later, the family was finally reunited. The Red Cross had arranged for lodging, and gave the family food to eat. Kenneth was still in the clothes he had received just minutes after the fire.

“We lost all our food,” Johnnie says. “I lost my glasses, and we still don’t know where our cell phones are.”

Thanks to a concerned social worker, Red Cross caseworker and the volunteers on scene that night, Johnnie’s family is now starting the process of recovery.

“There are some good people in this world,” she says with tears in her eyes. “You just know good people.”

The next step for their family will be the hardest, but Johnnie is up for the challenge.

“I have to find a place for my grandkids and great-grandkids to live,” she says with determination.

But with the support of the Red Cross, and the knowledge that her family is safe, Johnnie is ready to face the challenges that come with relocating her young grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

“This is a wonderful organization,” she says and gives a thumbs up.

Her friend, Kenneth, agrees. “They jumped right in to help,” he says.

The American Red Cross in Southeastern Wisconsin relies on donations of time and money so they can provide relief to victims of disasters and help people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies in Dodge, Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth and Waukesha counties. To donate your time, please visit our Volunteer page. Financial donations can be made online through our secure contribution site.You can also support the Red Cross online by becoming a fan on our facebook page and following us on Twitter.