A hero's homecoming for a Troy mother who three weeks ago risked her life to save a baby left in a fire next door. YNN's Erin Vannella reports.

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TROY, N.Y. -- "Shontal Gaymon took it upon herself to force down the door of the apartment, run the entire length of the apartment to the front, scoop up the one-year-old child, then run back through the smoke and flames barely getting out of the apartment alive," said Troy Police Captain John Cooney.

After three weeks of treatment for second and third degree burns, Shontal Gaymon comes home to her own son and the baby, Nikia Frazier, she saved.

"Hi Kia Kia," said Gaymon.

“Do you think she appreciates what you did?” our reporter asked.

“She probably don't know now, but I’ll tell her when she's older,” Gaymon said.

It was an unselfish act that Gaymon says she'd do again and the city can't say thank you enough.

"Shontal, from the Troy Police Union, the Troy Command Officers Union and the Uniformed Firefighters Association, your rent is paid for the next six months," said Cooney.

“I love it,” said Gaymon. “Just as much maybe as her best friend who visited Gaymon daily loves having her home.”

Does it feel cool to be the friend of a hero?

"Yeah," said Gaymon's friend Erica Garrett. "I get to share the excitement, how she feels about everything."

It's tragic but we'll get through it, said the welcoming party. Though in truth the worst may be over. Gaymon called it motherly instinct. Maybe it wasn't too smart looking back, but it was the right thing to do.

"Nothing but heat, heat, heat," said Gaymon. “But it was all worth it. She's alive and good. I'm happy. I'm good. I can't call it."

The cause of the fire is still unknown. Police say any charges to the father who left the baby alone in the apartment may still be pending. Also, a Shontal Gaymon Recovery Fund has been set up at Trustco Bank for any public donations.