A YOUNG mum today hugged the man who rescued her from a burning house - and told him: "Thank you for saving my life."

Naushad Panwaskar turned hero when fire broke out at Jacqueline Jackson's home in Higher Bent Gap, Wensley Fold, Blackburn, on Saturday night.

He helped her overcome her fear of heights and led her to safety from a first-floor window of her terrace house.

Jacqueline said: "If it hadn't been for him, I would not be here today."

The blaze started at about 10pm on Saturday in the living room of Jacqueline's house.

Fortunately , Jacqueline's three-year-old son, Dean, was staying with her mother that night.

The 22-year-old, who was in bed, awoke to find the house filled with smoke.

She said: "I couldn't get downstairs so I went to the back window and shouted and shouted. I was shouting for ages - there was nothing else I could do. "Eventually two girls walking past spotted me and ran for help."

The girls knocked on the door of the house in Cheetham Street, where Nashaud was staying with friends and he immediately ran to Jacqueline's aid.

He said: "I rushed out and saw Jacqueline with her leg out of the upstairs window. There was lots of smoke and I knew I had to do something."

He ran back to the house to get a ladder, only to find it was not long enough to reach the first-floor window.

He put the ladder against the wall, grabbed the drainpipe and stretched out to grab Jacqueline's hand.

Somehow Jacqueline, who admits she is terrified of heights, managed to jump from the window on to Nashaud's shoulder. He then led her down the ladder to the safety of her back yard.

She said: "I don't know how he managed it. I'm just so lucky he was there."

Jacqueline's living room and kitchen were badly damaged by the fire and the rest of the house suffered smoke damage. She also lost a treasured portrait of herself and Dean.

Reluctant hero Nashaud, of Larkhill, Blackburn, said: "I just knew I had to go up and get her down from that window somehow. I had to do it no matter what."

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