NEED TO KNOW
- A man ran into traffic to save two toddlers who had wandered onto a Florida roadway on Jan. 11
- The father of five quickly located the children’s family, who were unaware that they had escaped the backyard
- The rescue was caught on his vehicle’s dash cam
A father of five rushed to save two toddlers who walked onto a busy Florida road. The dramatic rescue was caught on dashcam footage.
On Sunday, Jan. 11, John Brittingham was heading to his house, driving south on Florida State Road A1A in Brevard County, when he saw two young girls in the road, NBC affiliate WESH reported. Brittingham, who has five grown children, quickly pulled over. In dashcam footage he shared with the outlet, he can be seen stopping traffic with one hand as he picked up the first toddler from the middle of the roadway. A few seconds later, he picked up the second child as she lifted her arms to him.
“I was terrified thinking of what could have happened to them,” Brittingham told WESH. “The rest of my life would have been ruined.”
Rescuing both children took about six seconds and the dad and grandfather said it gave him a surge of adrenaline.
Brittingham then went in search for the parents of the girls, who he estimated were about 2 years old or younger, according to the outlet. When no one answered a knock on the door of a nearby Airbnb, he went around the building and found an open back gate. Brittingham told WESH that the opening was how the children were able to escape the premises, and the adults had no idea the toddlers were missing.
“There was an elderly couple and a young girl, and they immediately went into like, ‘Oh my God, we’re so sorry,’ ” Brittingham told the outlet. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know, I’m just glad I could get them back to you. They were out in the road, and your gate was open.’ ”
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Brittingham did not report the incident because he was able to quickly locate the children’s family.
A spokesperson for the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office confirms that an investigation into the incident is ongoing, but there appears to have been no criminal activity. The family was from out of state, so officials have also contacted the Georgia Division of Family and Children Services.
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