Ring doorbell saves sleeping 87-year-old Alzheimers victim from fire as her daughter uses it to tell neighbours how to break into house

Published: 10:08, 2 July 2026 | Updated: 10:20, 2 July 2026 A heroic group of neighbours broke into the home of an 87-year-old great-grandmother to save her from a fire. Phyllis Day, who has Alzheimer's, was asleep when a blaze broke out in the utility room of her home in Wigston, Leicestershire. Her neighbours spotted flames and smoke coming from the house at around 11.30pm and rushed round to help. Daughter Suzanne Wright was at home five miles away when she was woken up by the doorbell alarm alerting her to activity outside her mother's house. Mrs Day, 87, has lived alone since her husband Charlie, 79, died in 2018. She watched as a group of around eight people tried to smash their way inside the property. Initially, Ms Wright was concerned that a group of drunk thugs were trying to smash their way in. Once she realised they were her mother's neighbours, she used the intercom system on the Ring doorbell to guide them to a key box and into the home. The heroic neighbours were caught on doorbell camera trying to get into the house after seeing smoke and flames The moment Phyllis Day, 87, was rescued from her burning house by her neighbours Mrs Day (right) with her daughter Suzanne Wright (left) after the fire destroyed the bottom floor Ms Wright, 56, said: 'It was just pure luck that her neighbours saw the flames and dashed round to help. 'I was asleep when I received an alert on my phone from the doorbell camera. 'I could see a couple of men without tops on hammering on the door and my first thought was they were drunk or trying to break into mum's house. 'There were then lots of people outside trying to ram their way inside and a man was shouting 'get out, there's a fire'. 'I was able to speak to them on the intercom on the camera and explained I lived elsewhere but my mum was inside.' Suzanne, a full-time carer for her mother, rushed into the car with her husband to make their way over to her mother's home. As they drove, she continued to watch as the neighbours entered the burning building.  She said: 'I was able to give them instructions about where to find the key box and what the code was. 'At one point I lost visual and could just hear shouting and screaming, it was terrifying. 'Luckily it came back on and I could see mum being led by the arm outside.' Fire investigators believe an electrical fault in the kitchen or utility room may have started the blaze. Ms Wright says she believes her mother could not hear the smoke alarms. She said: 'My mum took her hearing aids out before going to bed, which is why she couldn't hear the smoke alarms going off. 'She was completely oblivious to the fire in her home.' Neighbours Pav Sarpal, 28, and Stephan Smart, 44, ran into the house to rescue Mrs Day. Mr Sarpal said: 'It's the worst thing I've ever seen in my life, all I could see were flames and smoke and it was getting worse by the second. 'When the door opened I ran in first but I couldn't breathe. I told Stephan to get me a towel so I could go upstairs where Phyllis was asleep. 'I was coughing so much, the smoke was the worst thing - it was everywhere. 'It felt like I was being physically choked by the smoke. I had to run downstairs twice to get fresh air before heading up to bring Sue's mum down.' Mrs Wright guided her neighbours into the house using the intercom system on her Ring doorbell Ms Wright was initially concerned that a group of drunk thugs were trying to smash their way in Mr Smart added: 'I just saw flames coming straight through the kitchen door. 'I panicked a little to start with, but I knew somebody was upstairs and I had to get up there and get her down as quickly as possible. 'When we found her bedroom we woke Phyllis up, but she looked at me like I was going to rob her. 'I told her there was a fire and she needed to come with us and we gently got her out of bed.' The two men took an arm each as they helped Mrs Day down the stairs and out of the front door. Another neighbour, Dean Archer, 30, also rushed to help when he heard a loud explosion come from inside the house. He said: 'I was in bed when I heard a bang. I got dressed as quick as I could and ran down to the house and saw it was on fire and I tried to barge the door down. 'Sue came through the intercom of the doorbell cam and was giving us instructions about where to get the keys from. 'When we got inside it was really smokey and dark and I was trying to find a light switch and fumbling all around. 'It was a mad panic really. Stephan and Pav got up the stairs and managed to bring her down and luckily we got her out just in time. 'It felt like it took ages, everything was in slow motion.' Daylight pictures revealed the damage caused by the blaze, with just charred remains of the bottom floor of the three-bedroom property. Utilities and furniture were destroyed by the fire, investigators believe an electrical fault in the kitchen or utility room may have started the blaze Mrs Day, who has ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, will now stay with Suzanne until her home is repaired. Suzanne added: 'I cannot thank the neighbours enough. They are absolute superheroes and I think King Charles should knight them all.' The fire service urged the public not to risk their lives to make daring rescues.  Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said: 'While we understand that the neighbours acted in the best intentions in rescuing the resident, we would urge the public not to enter buildings that are on fire, for any reason, as doing so endangers more lives. 'Smoke inhalation can quickly disorientate, injure and incapacitate.' The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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