Grandfather Who Rushed Into Burning Apartment To Save Grandson Dies

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago grandfather, who rushed into a burning apartment to save his grandson, died.

69-year-old Apolonio Castellano died early Saturday morning. He had been hospitalized since last weekend when he removed a second floor window in the smoke-filled unit near Avenue L and 100th Street and dropped his 7-year-old grandson down to two Chicago Police officers waiting below.

The boy was treated for smoke inhalation.

Investigators say the fire was accidental, but the building did not have working smoke detectors.

"He had a heart attack on the way there. He died for five minutes, but they brought him back. He's in the cardiac intensive care unit. If it wasn't for him, my son wouldn't be here. My son would not be alive," Corita Castellano, Apolonio's daughter and the mother of the 7-year-old, told CBS 2 last week.

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