Overbrook's Heroes . . .
Pictured
below are the three Overbrook HS football players who entered a burning house near 56th and Girard to save an 87-year-old woman. L to R, they're Calem Bridgette, Yusuf Bangura and Markeyse Carter. We salute these brave young men and thank them for their heroic
act! Below the photo is the story that appeared in the 9/14/06 Daily
News . Click here for photos of the guys' 9/19 visit to the NovaCare Complex,
where they had a surprise meeting with Donovan McNabb and received two tickets apiece to the Monday night game vs. the Packers. Click here for a follow-up story on ESPN.com.
Teen saves woman in fire By TED SILARY AS THEY WALKED south on 56th Street early
Tuesday evening and neared Girard Avenue, Yusuf Bangura and a
half-dozen Overbrook High football teammates thought someone was
having "a serious barbecue." But as the young men got closer, they
realized... The smoke was too thick. And too dark. And it
certainly did not smell like food. Plus, it was pouring from the
top of a house. A few concerned people were gathered outside.
No one was lending hands-on assistance, even though "Help me!"
screams could be heard. "I didn't really think," Bangura said. "I just
reacted. There was no discussion among us. I just said, 'Yo, I'm
goin' in.' " Yusuf Bangura, 16, a sophomore, of course
loves the idea of being a football hero, and that's what he was
- thanks to a touchdown reception - back on Sept. 2, when
Overbrook opened its season with a 12-10 win at Haverford
School. But this performance? It quite likely saved a
life, and that's decidedly more heroic. Bangura, followed by teammates Calem Bridgette
and Markeyse Carter, charged into the smoke-filled house on W.
Girard Avenue near 55th Street a shade before 7 p.m. The group
had been walking home from practice. After first smacking into the banister and
slightly injuring his hip, Bangura dashed up the steps and,
relying on shouts of panic to pinpoint a location, found an
elderly woman in a back room. Bangura scooped up the woman, later identified
as Rosa Lewis, 87 - "Like you'd carry a baby, in front of my
chest," he said - and scrambled back downstairs to safety. The drama was not over. Bangura has asthma and had endured a serious
attack, thoroughly terrifying his teammates and coaches during
one of Overbrook's late-summer workouts. Now he was having another. "He was talking OK at first," Bridgette said.
"Then, he started coughing and having problems." A woman came from across the street to give
Bangura a bottle of water. A policeman soon arrived to provide
further assistance. "I had to calm down," Bangura said. "I was
scared it was going to be like that day at practice again." When an ambulance arrived, Bangura and Lewis
spent time inside it together. He was taken to Children's
Hospital, where he was held several hours for observation.
Lewis, in a second ambulance, was treated at the Hospital of the
University of Pennsylvania and released. Battalion Chief Willie Williams said the fire
had been caused by faulty wiring. Bangura was back in school
yesterday, and at practice. As the workout began, assistant David Carter
gathered the Panthers/Hilltoppers and explained what had
happened. Most, of course, already knew. "As a family, you need to give it up for your
brothers!" Carter said. There was wild applause. "And I need to give you big ups, too!" Carter
added. His clapping produced a second round of deep
appreciation. Earlier, coach Ken Sturm said of Bangura's
heroics: "It's incredible, isn't it? This kid really deserves
some good attention. True, there are some kids out here doing
bad things. But there are a lot like Yusuf, and they need
to be recognized." Bridgette said he and Markeyse Carter followed
Bangura into the house because they didn't want him to go it
alone. "We were so scared," Bridgette said. "You
couldn't see anything. We only found the steps because my foot
hit into them. "I'm not sure how long it took. Maybe 10 to 15
seconds. Just when we were thinking we should run up there, too,
we could hear Yusuf carrying the woman down the steps. He was so
brave. You never think you'll know someone who does something
that brave... I guess all three of us were brave." Said Bangura: "My adrenaline was pumping. My
heart was racing. I just kept thinking, 'I have to get this lady out .' I couldn't see. And the smoke was hurting my
throat. "She's probably somebody's mother. Somebody's
grandmother. I know if it was my mom or grandmom, or even me ,
I'd want to get help, too." Yesterday at 'Brook, best- known as Wilt
Chamberlain's alma mater, news of Bangura's actions spread
quickly. "Some kids were calling me 'Superman,' " he
said, sheepishly. "And a hero. "Then, they made an announcement over the
loudspeaker. I was in my African-American-history class. Some
people didn't know it was me. When they saw others reacting,
they were like, 'That Yusuf is YOU?!' " He laughed. "That was a weird experience." Lewis' neighbors surveyed the remains of her
charred home last night and reflected on the heroic act that
saved her life. "It's great to see that there's still good
people like that walking around," said neighbor Brett Reed. Bangura, who lives on Alden Street, near 57th
and Race streets, said his mother, Gwendolyn Lambert, was
bursting with pride Tuesday night and yesterday. "She said she was amazed that someone like me
could do something like that," he said. "She couldn't praise me enough." She was not alone. Staff writer David
Gambacorta contributed to this report.
Author
Published
March 5, 2026
Updated
March 5, 2026