A Summerville, South Carolina, woman is getting lots of praise after rescuing two children who wandered away from a daycare center Thursday.
The Good Samaritan, named Kirbie Washington, was in her car going down Old Trolley Road and could not believe it when she saw the children on the side of the road not far from the Cadence Academy building, WCSC reported Friday.
“I was driving, and I noticed two small kids getting closer and closer to the road and no adult was around, nobody was running towards them,” she recalled.
In a social media post, Washington relayed the incident and said she instantly jumped out of her vehicle, ran towards the toddlers, and took them into her arms.
Once they were out of harm’s way, Washington called law enforcement for assistance. She had been on the phone talking to her fiancé when the potentially dangerous situation unfolded.
“I was like, ‘Hey, there’s kids outside!’ And he’s like, ‘I’m hanging up, call 911,'” she explained.
It only took a few minutes for officers to arrive at the scene. According to a police report, the daycare director said the toddlers escaped through a hole in the fence when a teacher was bringing the children inside.
The teacher notified other workers when the children disappeared, and two employees immediately began a search.
“Wow! This is insane! I’m glad you were there,” one social media user told Washington.
“Thank God you were in the right place at the right time, and that the kiddos are okay,” another commented.
When staff members realized what happened, they expressed their deepest thanks, according to Washington, who said she posted on social media because she was happy to be able to react quickly.
The parents were told about the incident, and Washington, who is also a parent, was simply relieved nothing worse happened.
“[My maternal instinct] just kicked in, and it was like an automatic reflex just to get to the kids and make sure they were safe,” she commented.
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