Former UFC champion Mark Coleman said he's "blessed and grateful" to be alive while recovering in the hospital, days after his family said he helped rescue his parents from a fire at their Ohio home.
Coleman, 59, has been hospitalized since Tuesday following the early-morning fire, which broke out at his parents' home in Fremont, his family said on social media.
The mixed martial artist managed to get his mother and father safely out of the home before going back to try to save the family dog, Hammer, who ultimately died in the fire, his family said.
Authorities responding to the fire, which was reported shortly before 4 a.m. local time, were informed that all three people had gotten out of the house but one was "trying to go back to get a dog," according to an incident report from the Sandusky County Sheriff's Office.
Upon arriving at the scene, a responding deputy noticed that Coleman was "not in good shape," according to the report. His face and hands were covered in black soot and he was "coughing and having trouble breathing," the report stated. EMS took him to an ambulance, the report stated.
Coleman's daughters initially said on their GoFundMe account that their father was getting treatment to clear his lungs. On Thursday, they updated that he was now breathing on his own.
Coleman shared a photo on social media Friday of him giving a thumbs-up from his hospital bed.
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