HENRICO, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) – Heart-stopping video shows the moment a good Samaritan saved a toddler from traffic after the little boy wandered away from school. Two teachers are no longer employed in the wake of the incident.
Tre Waddy’s dashcam video captured the moments Friday morning when a toddler walked down the hill toward busy traffic right in front of his vehicle. The 30-year-old father sprang into action to protect the boy, WWBT reports.
“He darts in between us, and then, all that rustling you hear is the hazards, putting it in park, taking my seatbelt off and opening the door,” Waddy said. “Then, he came around, and he saw the white car go by, super close. Then, after I threw the door open, I just got out, grabbed him.”
Richmond Montessori School says the toddler wandered away from his class and into traffic.
After rescuing the boy, Waddy says he ran up the hill to make sure the toddler made it safely back to his group, but it appeared the teachers did not even know he had been missing.
“I saw the class. Then, I made contact with one of the teachers,” Waddy said. “I just threw a thumbs up, like, everything good? There’s a whole thing that just happened down here.”
The school said in a statement Tuesday that it conducted an investigation, and “the two teachers responsible for the child’s safety are no longer employed” at the school.
For Waddy, the incident hit close to home. His son is similar in age to the boy he rescued.
“When I picked him up from the road, I’m not going to say it was like holding my son, but he’s about the same size,” he said of that life-saving moment. “They’re about maybe the same height. He felt the same in my arms. So, I’m just like, ‘Man.’”
He had lunch with the boy’s family Tuesday and got emotional talking about it.
“It was nice. It was a nice reunion,” said Waddy, wiping tears away. “Obviously, the mother is really upset. I’m glad that I got to meet them. They’re really nice people, and I’m glad that this isn’t going to be a detrimental Thanksgiving for them because it could have been. Without putting their business out there, he’s a miracle baby.”
The Richmond Montessori School said in a statement that the school is “eternally grateful” to Waddy and continued, “We recognize that every day, our parents entrust us with their children, and we take that responsibility and partnership seriously. We intend to maintain that trust by learning from this incident.”
The school says the following additional safety measures are being implemented:
- Any outdoor activities outside of a fenced area, including nature walks, have been suspended pending the completion of our safety audit.
- Add more fencing or barriers to campus to prevent any student from wandering towards Parham Road.
- All staff will receive additional safety training.
Waddy encourages all drivers to stay alert on the roads.
Henrico detectives say they are working with Child Protective Services to determine whether criminal charges will be filed.
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