Each year, around 460,000 children are being reported missing in the United States alone?
Can you imagine receiving a call that your child had gone missing?
It’s every parent’s nightmare.
Five years ago, it was time to go home for the children attending Alexandria Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles.
Parents and guardians were waiting, the usual scene that we see every single day.
Everything seemed normal.
An 8-year-old girl was on her way to leave her school when an old woman went up to her.
The old woman grabbed her hand tightly and said, “Come on, come on!”
But she didn’t want to go.
As early as our kids can understand us, we always tell them not to talk or go with people they don’t know.
Even at school, where there are teachers, guards, and security cameras, kidnappers still have the guts to monitor and pick their targets.
It is a reality that can come true and turn our lives into a living nightmare.
Stunned, the little girl knew something was wrong. That’s when the little girl saw the school’s crossing guard, Adrian Young.
Young was actually off duty that day.
But she was there, and her timing couldn’t be more perfect.
The little girl yelled at her and begged her to save her.
“She kept saying to me, ‘Please help me, Miss Crossing Guard, please help me,'” Young told in her interview with KTLA.
Young only stands at 4 feet 8 inches tall, just a little taller than the kids she assists.
She didn’t let height stop her.
According to Young, she told the frightened girl to “hold on to me as tight as she can, because both of us were very small, and the lady was bigger than me.”
Even though the kidnapper was bigger than her, Young didn’t let her take the girl. She was ready to fight for that child’s safety.
A punch to the face.
Young, with all her might, freed the girl by punching the kidnapper.
Her punch packed a so much force that the kidnapper fled.
“I’m very thankful for you,” Sharon Arellano, the girl’s mom told Young.
Arellano hugged Young tightly.
She couldn’t thank her enough for saving her baby’s life.
“If it hadn’t been for her, I don’t know where my daughter would be right now.”
A week later, a public event was held. In this event, Los Angeles City Council Member Mitch O’Farrell gave his speech and honored Young for her bravery and heroism.
“Sometimes superheroes come in small packages,” O’Farrell said in his speech.
Young may be small, but she is brave!
“And because of her diligence, training and awareness and just because she cares so much about children, she prevented what could have been a kidnapping of a child.”
Indeed, if she wasn’t there, can you imagine what could have happened?
Just thinking about it can already send shivers down our spines!
As for the kidnapper, LAPD managed to get a description of her and later caught her.
The kidnapper was Maria Ramirez.
The 50-year-old was later taken into custody on one felony count of kidnapping. She’s currently being held on a $100,000 bail.
Everything happened so fast. We couldn’t imagine this happening to any other kid, let alone our own.
That’s why Young’s bravery is appreciated by all of us. It makes us feel a whole lot safer, knowing there are brave people out there who are willing to protect kids from criminals.
Watch the full video below!
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