Woman Gives God Praise After Rescuing 7 Children From Fire
An Iowa daycare director praised God for allowing her to save the lives of seven children after the van she was driving burst into flames.
"I give all the credit to God," Tara Dekkers, 36, told KELO Land. "He was the one who was with me. He was the one who made it all possible for me to get them all out."
Dekkers had the seven children she was watching in her back seat and was on her way to pick up her own children from school on Dec. 6, when one of the children started complaining about the car's smell.
Shortly after, something popped and smoke rushed into the vehicle.
"After I ran around the front of the van to open the door to the side to get the kids out, I saw flames [coming from under the car], "she said. "I just moved as fast I could to get everyone out."
While the three oldest children were able to leave the car without her help after Dekker gave directions, she had to physically help out the four youngest ones.
After a pick-up truck drove up to help, the three oldest children sat in the back of the van, Dekker, one by one, went to take the children out of their car seats and hand them to the pick-up truck's driver.
"I kept telling the kids, 'We're going to be OK,'" she added.
Shortly after she had finished moving the kids, the fire completely engulfed the van.
"I was scared," Dekkers said. "I just kept hoping I was moving fast enough to get them out before it went up in flames."
Dekker was hesitant about taking credit for her life-saving actions.
"I truly believe that [God] held the fire off for as long as it could," she said. "I don't think I'm a hero. I believe that any one in my situation would have done the exact same thing."
