New York Teen, 19, And Three-Year-Old Girl Both Die After He Rescued Her From A Burning Building

He was just 19 years old. But had more courage than a person twice his age.

As a fire raged inside his 16-story apartment complex, Lucas Silverio, ran back into the burning building to try and save a stranger’s three-year-old daughter.

The teen and Yasleen London McDonald, 3, suffered burns to 80 percent of their bodies, during the fire in the Belmont section of Garden Street in the Bronx.

He died at a hospital Wednesday, two days after the child he carried out of the high-rise also passed away.

The deadly blaze began at around 1am Sunday, sending flames through the building’s roof.

Silverio was reportedly able to lead his grandmother, Nidia Torres, down 15 stories out of the building to safety with the help of his cousin, Jeury Mendoza.

But during their escape, they came across screaming resident, Jasmine Moreno, who had just lost sight of her three-year-old daughter, Yasleen.

Silverio bravely decided to run back into the inferno, leaving his grandma with his cousin, to rescue a child he didn’t even know.

“He didn’t care about saving his own life in that moment. He cared about saving that girl who was so innocent. He’s a hero in my eyes,” Silverio’s emotiona uncle, Jesse Alvarez, told ABC 7.

The heroic 19-year-old ran up 14 stories and against all odds found Yasmeen amid the smoke and flames, sources told the New York Daily News.

Silverio somehow managed to carry the child out of the building to emergency responders, despite devastating burns.

But tragically Yasmeen died from her injuries and smoke inhalation a day later at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan, officials said.

Two days later, Silverio sadly succumbed to his injuries at Jacobi Medical Center in the Bronx.

“My heart is heavy for both my daughter and the kid who saved her,” said Yasleen’s mom, Jasmine Moreno, to the Daily News. “He’s a hero. He saved my daughter without even …. my condolences. I’m going to keep them in my prayers.”

A GoFundMe page started to help Silverio’s family pay for his funeral expenses has raised $7,000. 

“I was shocked that a 19-year-old would go into the fire,” said Yasleen’s great uncle Willie Colon, 52, of the Bronx, told the Daily News. “That guy is going to be in my heart forever.”

Fire investigators told ABC 7 they are still trying to determine the cause of the fire. However sources believe it was started by a combustible object someone threw into the building’s trash compactor.