Rescued a toddler yesterday

[JeffinNZ]

I was heading out for a run with Bella dog yesterday and cut down a side street in the car en route to the forest. As I approached the left turn intersection I saw a toddler of about 15 months about to mount the curb and crawl onto the road. I threw out the anchors, parked up in the middle of the road to block the traffic, put the hazard lights on and leap out picking up the kid. Not an adult in sight! Another car pulls up and we commence to looking for the parent. Knocked on a couple of doors to no avail then from about a 100 yards away a panic strickened father canters down the road. The wee boy had got out from their section and was exploring.

All's well that ends well but as a parent to really threw me and was more than a bit troubling.

[Jim]

Dear God, Jeff! Thank you for being on your toes!

[smokeywolf]

"Troubling" is putting it mildly. You were in the right place at the right time. Lucky baby!

smokeywolf

[41 mag fan]

Omg!!!

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I hope you slapped the old man and gave the old "PAY ATTENTION!" like my dad did :)

[10x]

I hope you slapped the old man and gave the old "PAY ATTENTION!" like my dad did :)

Indeed, you should have gone "Foghorn Leghorn" on the dad.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LCsiWL6gn0

[runfiverun]

several places here [in the states] the kid would have gotten taken away, and the parents would have had to go to court to get him back.

i'm guessing being a pilot really payed off in your awareness factor here.

[GREENCOUNTYPETE]

good work

when my son was about that age , i was running his bath , i heard the screen door slam , by the time i got out there he was standing a few feet in to the road buck naked , a 16-18 year old girl had stopped her car and was wondering where he came from as i came out the front door couldn't have taken 20 seconds

he was so fast , his mother used to have nightmares about him getting out and into one of the neighbors inflatable pools

not long after that , our place turned into "the compound" , cost me 2 grand to fix those night mares 480 feet of 4 foot high chain link all the way around the house covering the hole yard

by age 3 was chasing grandpa on the riding mower for a half hour at a time just running behind him arms out like he was an air plane

he also undid locks and opened doors no problem , even started the mini van and put it in drive about the time he was 3 when it started rolling at the garage he jammed it in reverse , then backed into the snow pile at the end of the drive , then back in drive , and forward again he was stuck between 2 snow piles but was going back and forth 30 feet between them the old dodge caravan didn't need the brake depressed to put in gear

combination locks and pas-codes i have to make him turn around and cover his eyes , he is always looking and he sees such detail when he is looking , he can repeat it

[RED333]

I "helped" a toddler years ago, just like this, got a dirty look from the mother
as I was bringing the baby back to Her, like I had done something wrong.
We all do the right thing when we have to.

[Artful]

I can remember a long time ago I was upstairs in Oregon lubesizing boolits, and I heard a kid crying. This was odd as I lived out in the country. The neighbors across the road had no children. I went outside and located the noise coming from the big old bridge that crossed the creek. Went over to investigate and found a 6 year oldish kid had gotten between the guard rails and climbed down onto the piling header but couldn't get himself back up. I lifted him back onto the roadway and he took off like a scalded dog. Running the quarter mile down to the general market. Doubt if the parent was aware. You know that these days it would be murder on the parent but in my time they just turned you loose as a kid and you were expected to be home by dinner time (sunset) and better have not gotten into anything you were not supposed too.

[linotype]

Jeff,
I believe there's reason for everything. You were to at the right place at the right time, to help that youngster.
There was a lesson for someone in that situation.

[DLCTEX]

Many years ago a toddler crossed a busy street on a tricycle and then came back across before anyone could catch him. His Mom was asleep in the house. Thanks to alert drivers he was ok.

[DCM]

Good for you Jeff!!
As a parents that puts real fear in our heads.
My son is much older but we have already told him that we will ALWAYS worry about him!

[FISH4BUGS]

The father was panic stricken. That says it all. Any of us that are parents and had kids that were adventuresome have been there. My son had 37 stitches before he was 12. Don't be too hard on the father....anyone that has a kid that was energetic and curious has been there in some form or another.

[JeffinNZ]

Yeah, no words other than "thank you" and "that's OK" were exchanged. He looked like a respectable guy who had been through enough.

[Firebird]

My brother was like that at the same age. One time he managed to get over a mile away before a kind women corralled him and got him to tell her the way home (which he actually knew); and this was before he was 18 months old. Our parents ended up chaining him to the clothes line in the backyard with a lock on the chain so he couldn't get loose.

[9.3X62AL]

Good on ya, Jeff!

[Oreo]

As the full-time father of a 13-month old I feel both the understanding of how a kid can (and will occasionally) get away so quickly, as well as the slap-him-silly-pay-attention vibe. Tough job, high stakes!

God himself worked through you on that one Jeff.

[smokemjoe]

I wished you would of been here about 4 months ago, 2 girls were riding there bikes and disappaered,2 hunters found them this week. Joe