"Because of his heroic actions, a baby is alive"
Chicago Sun-Times, July 12, 2008
An Uptown man who saved an abandoned baby this week said Friday that he feels a special connection to the child.
"I'm like his pseudo-father now," Brandon Shephard, 25, said after being honored by the Save Abandoned Babies Foundation and the Chicago Fire Department for his actions.
Early Tuesday, Shephard found the crying newborn boy wrapped in a plastic grocery bag in bushes outside his apartment complex after he returned home from a night out.
He didn't have a cell phone and didn't want to waste time getting up to his third-floor apartment, so he picked up the baby and ran to a fire station three blocks away, in the 1500 block of West Wilson.
Shephard kicked in the door and woke up firefighters, who rushed the boy to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
"You know, I wanted to follow them after I gave them the baby. My paternal instincts were kicking in," said Shephard, who is single and doesn't have children.
The boy, called 'Baby Wilson' after the street where he was turned in, suffered from hypothermia and a cut lip when Shephard found him.
He was is in serious condition, an Illinois Masonic spokesman said.
If Shephard had not brought him in, the baby probably would have died, Fire Capt. Bob Martin said.
"Because of Brandon's heroic actions, a baby is alive today," Martin said.
Shephard, who was adopted when he was 9 months old, said he hopes Baby Wilson will "find a great family that understands him, and he can go to them no matter what."
Read the Tribune's story in the comments here.
Now that is a story with a happy ending. Hopefully the kid will be adopted by a good family, loved, and lead a nice life. Perhaps even in Uptown.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Brandon!
ReplyDeleteI see Brandon was honored by the Save Abandoned Babies organization. Let's hope the City buys a clue and honors him as a "Hometown Hero" as well. This is truly a feelgood story with no downside.
ReplyDeleteOrdinary resident shines in unexpected situation - check
Newborn saved from death - check
Lots of information and publicity for program to save other newborns - check
Community is happy about positive news - check
I think the City Council and/or Mayor and/or Fire Department needs to start issuing proclamations ASAP.
"I have a dream.."
ReplyDeleteThough this young man did the right thing, I wonder what it says about ourselves if we honor someone who does the appropriate and decent deed.
ReplyDeleteIf I found a baby in a bag anywhere, I would make sure that I found the proper authorities. Wouldn't you?
I'm not sure that we should go so far as to call this young man a "hero".
What do you think? I'm curious to know.
What do you think? I'm curious to know.
ReplyDeleteHe saved a life. Doesn't matter if everyone (or no one) would do it. Someone is alive because of his actions. That to me is a hero.
Hero or not he did the right thing. The decent thing. Most of us would have done something similar, but not all.
ReplyDeleteThe Tribune story says he moved to Chicago because he lost his job and is working temp jobs.
Perhaps this event will help him get full time employment.
I'm so glad Brandon received this well-deserved award.
ReplyDeleteHe deserved this award for saving a life. For whatever reason, he stepped up when there were probably others who heard the baby's cried but didn't investigate. That is definitely something that should be recognized and honored.
ReplyDeleteAll of us have heard something, caught a glimpse here or there, felt our gut roil, or had our intuition switch tripped and done nothing.
ReplyDeleteBrandon made a different choice. He acted. That alone makes him special.
Remember the story of Kitty Genovese? She was the woman stabbed to death in Queens while dozens of people purportedly heard her peril and pain and did nothing.
Kitty’s death gave birth to an awareness of a social phenomenon known as the bystander effect.
Brandon chose not to be a bystander. He didn’t expect someone else to respond to the baby crying outside his window. He acted.
Brandon, you are the man. Thank you.
He's a hero in my book, as others have said a life was saved. Saying he's not is like saying a firefighter who rescues someone from a burning building isnt a hero "because its their job."
ReplyDeleteIf I had heard a baby crying outside my window, I'm not sure I would have put two and two together. Well done Brandon!
ReplyDeleteIf I found a baby in a bag anywhere, I would make sure that I found the proper authorities. Wouldn't you?
ReplyDeleteYou'd be surprised. After all, how long was that baby there before this guy responsed. From some of the stories I've read about this, quite a while. A lot of people thought it was a cat howling and ignored it. I am sure that if you found a baby in a bag you would take it to the authorities. The question is, would you have looked in the bag in the first place? How many times have you passed someone lying on the sidewalk and just assumed that person was drunk and not suffering a heart attack or something?
All Im saying is that this guy did something good and they gave him a piece of paper that says thanks. That's all. why try to yank the "hero" tag from him just because it doesn't meet YOUR exact standard?