'We were just so grateful to be alive': six-year-old boy meets the Ottawa firefighters that helped to save his life

It was an emotional reunion on Thursday afternoon as a six-year-old boy met the Ottawa firefighters that helped to save his life.

Cody McNeil was only a toddler when a humidifier by his crib caught fire in February 2017.

"I just remember telling him the fire was in his room and grabbing him before running outside and sitting in our mini van, where I called 911," Tammy McNeil, Cody’s mother, said.

A fire alarm alerted the boy’s parents to the smoke and flames.

"She opened the door to his room and that’s where she saw the actual humidifier on fire," Chris McNeil, Cody’s father, said.

The McNeils got out of their Kanata home within minutes and before the firefighters arrived.

"A working smoke alarm is definitely why Cody is alive," said Acting District Chief Steve Styles of Ottawa Fire Services.

"We were just so grateful to be alive," Tammy McNeil said. "Yes, he was injured, but he was alive and we were alive, so that’s what kept us going."

At the time of the incident, the toddler had third-degree burns and was given advanced life-support before being taken to hospital in critical condition. 

Five years later, the child met the crew that helped to treat him on the scene and save his life.The firefighters gave him a tour of the station fire truck and let him check out the gear.

"It feels like I’m part of the team," Cody said.

His father adding that the experience was cathartic for everybody.

"He likes to know what happened because he doesn’t remember it," Chris McNeil said. "It gives us a chance to fill in some of the blanks for him as well as see the people involved and thank them personally."

While McNeil still lives with scars from the fire and after recovering from three surgeries and multiple skin grafts, the incident hasn’t held him back as he remains energetic and happy all these years later.

"He’s a vibrant young boy, he likes to sing and dance," said his mother.

After a special visit, Cody took home a coin and hat from the firefighters to always remember the crew that changed his life.