Senior Citizen Saves Wife From Fire, Dies of Heart Attack

A Staten Island senior rescued his wife from a fire that ripped through their New Brighton apartment on Saturday — but he suffered a fatal heart attack on the way out of the building.

John Anstett, 76, smelled smoke inside his home at around 7 am and brought his 70-year-old wife Lucille to safety, the Daily News reports. But before they could get out of the building, Anstett — a retired plumber who usually wore an oxygen mask and rode a motorized wheelchair — collapsed.

"It was the scariest thing I've ever seen," neighbor Adriene Jones, 73, told the tabloid. "He looked bad. I knew that was it." His wife was treated for minor injuries from the blaze, which spread through their apartment in a city-owned housing complex for seniors. The fire may have caused by an electrical appliance, according to the Post.