Man who helped pregnant woman escape Riverside apartment fire faces double amputation

Overcome with emotion, Brian Jackson hugs his stepdaughters from his hospital bed as he faces a life without his legs. 

Jackson was inside a downtown Riverside apartment visiting a friend last Thursday when an electric scooter's battery exploded. 

"One of them went off, boom! A loud boom and then it started shooting sparks," Jackson said. "It was like it was mini bombs."

The apartment filled with smoke and flames as he ran to another room. Inside, he found a woman trying to jump out of a window. She told him that she was eight months pregnant. 

"She was already halfway out the window," Jackson said. "I don't think she realized how far she was."

Jackson said he convinced her not to jump and tried to figure out how to get them both down safely, but in the rush they ended up falling out of the window.

While Jackson believes the woman is OK, his heroic actions broke both of his legs and both of his ankles. Doctors said there is a possibility they will need to amputate both of his legs. 

Jackson, who has five stepdaughters and five granddaughters, said he's just happy to be alive. 

"I'd rather be amputated than dead," he said. 

Jackson's family is raising money for medical expenses and the possibility that he may lose his legs. However, doctors said they may be able to save his legs.