(BALTIMORE)- A fire breaks out at a Maryland home, and shielding an 8-month-old baby girl from the raging flames and heavy smoke was a family dog, according to the child's parents.
The mother of the child, Erika Poremski, told media she had stepped outside to her car when she noticed flames. Her eight-month-old daughter Viviana was still inside with the dog, Polo. Poremski told media she ran inside to save her daughter and dog. "She was up the stairs, but the fire smoke was so heavy I couldn't get past it, " she said. "I kept running back out and back in, trying to get up there. Then, the door curling started falling and I couldn't get back in."
Poremski suffered burns to her face and hands. Viviana is still recovering from burns to 19 percent of her body, according to a GoFundMe page created to help with medical costs for the baby girl. As for Polo, it died while saving Viviana.
Respodning firefighters arrived to find Polo covering Viviana with his body.
The GoFundMe page had raised more than $27,000, as of Sunday afternoon.