MACCLENNY, Fla. — Less a three weeks after a deadly fire claimed the lives of four people, one of the survivors is recovering back at home. Family and friends held a birthday party for 22-year-old Daniel Kerr Saturday.
“I just remember waking up, opened up the door, checking to see what’s out there and the whole living room was on fire, so I had to close the door," said Kerr.
Waking up to a house engulfed in flames, Baker County Corrections Officer Daniel Kerr had to think fast.
He knocked a window seal out so he could crawl through it.
“It was traumatizing, just looking at my hands being black," said Kerr. "My fingers coming off my hands.”
When Kerr was flown to UF Health in Gainesville, he had so much ash on his body he was initially checked in as a Black male.
“Just seeing your son laying there unresponsive, you know, it’s very heart wrenching," said Kerr's father, Danny Kerr.
Fortunately, Kerr wasn’t unresponsive for long.
He said doctors told him he could be on a ventilator for several weeks, if not months.
But only four days in, he didn’t need it anymore.
“I looked at her [Kerr's mom] and I’m like, ‘When are they going to take me off this ventilator? Because I’m breathing on my own.’ She’s like, ‘No you’re not.’ I’m like, ‘Watch this,'" said Kerr as he took a deep breath in.
The next day, Kerr was up and walking around the hospital – much to his doctor’s surprise.
“Tears started coming out of his eyes saying it looked like he’d seen a ghost," said Kerr. "He’d never see someone heal as fast as I did. And he said, ‘You are a true miracle.’”
Kerr didn’t wind up needing any surgery, and he just got the bandages off his hands.
He’s grateful for all the love and support from the community, including the first responders who were there for him that morning – and there for him at his birthday party.
“Really helped me through a lot of mental and going to the hospital," said Kerr. "Everyone’s been right behind me and had my back.”
Kerr still has a recurring cough from the smoke inhalation and he's going through physical therapy to regain full use of his hands.