FIRE victim Susan Carey today thanked the policeman who saved her daughter's life saying: "We owe everything to him. He was so incredibly brave."

Sitting in a hospital ward cradling her baby in her arms, Susan, 27, is now coming to terms with daughter Antonia's horrifying brush with death in a fire that tore through their home.

Ten-month-old Antonia, her body limp and lifeless after breathing toxic smoke, was plucked from the blaze by hero policeman Bob Greenall, 41.

On Saturday the Argus told how father-of-two PC Greenall wept tears of joy after saving the tot from the fire at Susan's council house in Milfoil Drive, Langney, Eastbourne.

It started after Antonia's three-year-old brother Daniel, who escaped unhurt, built a bonfire of teddy-bears on a nearby bed and set it alight with matches.

Minutes later the fire had spread all over the first floor.

PC Greenall battled through dense smoke and intense heat to grab Antonia from her scorched cot in the crucial minutes before the fire brigade arrived.

He was treated for smoke inhalation at Eastbourne District General Hospital before returning to his home in Little Common, Bexhill.

Speaking from the hospital yesterday, Susan, a care assistant, said: "I just want to thank him for saving my daughter's life. He must have been so brave, so courageous, to go into that house. He deserves some kind of award for this."

Baby Antonia was today due to leave the hospital.

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