Good Samaritans Help Save Mother, Child
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)- A mother and her toddler are recovering after they were struck and pinned under a vehicle in Aurora. Good Samaritans jumped in to help police save them.
The woman and her three children were trying to cross the street Monday night near the Walmart at Abilene and Exposition in Aurora.
She was holding her 2-year-old in her arms at the time. The woman and her child got pinned under the vehicle.
The vehicle stayed at the scene. Off-duty police officer Sgt. John Kessler working at Walmart noticed the incident and called it in. He and the first two officers, one of them Aurora Police Sgt. Matt Brukbacher, who arrived on the scene lifted the vehicle off the mother and child with the help of some good Samaritans.
"The lady was under the car, on her side, had her arms wrapped around the baby," said Kessler.
"And then I'm like, just standing there with the baby and trying to talk to her and make sure that she was okay," said Good Samaritan Nachele Gibson.
"I came back and she was on one side of the baby and I was on the other side and I was just talking to her. She was conscious and just looking back and forth at both of us," said Good Samaritan Jeffery Simpson.
"I would want someone else to do that if I was in that position or just anywhere we're here together, might as well help each other," said Simpson.
The father and step-daughter almost didn't stop on their way to the store but had a change of heart.
"There was no way I could have done it myself. These guys are the heroes," said Brukbacher.
He asked for help to lift the car on a count of three.
"I just had a bunch of citizens come and it was amazing the amount of response and we lifted that car like it was nothing," said Brukbacher.
A woman handed Gibson, 16, the baby.
"I took off my hoodie and covered the baby with it so she wasn't cold," said Gibson.
"There were people helping everywhere. It was amazing, helping out the best they could," said Kessler.
"The adrenaline kicks in and at that moment I had two people that possibly were going to die with me standing there. We got the job done," said Brukbacher.
The mother was transported to Aurora South Hospital and the children to The Children's Hospital.
The woman has serious injuries but has been upgraded to fair condition. The toddler has lacerations to her head and legs and will survive. One of the boys had a bump on his head and the other boy wasn't injured.
Police in Aurora said the driver wasn't speeding and the woman was not using the crosswalk. The driver won't be charged.
