One kid thought that it would be fun to hide inside his family’s garbage can. Little did he know that the garbage truck was just around the corner.
Elias Quezada, a seven-year-old, was at home and needed to do something to stave off boredom.
So he wandered outside and realized that he could fit inside the garbage can.
He lifted up the lid and climbed inside.
This was incredibly bad timing. The garbage truck turned around the corner. Soon, it was outside of his house.
The automatic arm of the truck clamped onto the garbage can.
It lifted the can into the air and dumped Elias into the truck.
Elias was moments away from being crushed.
“I felt like I was gonna be a mashed potato.” – Elias Quezada talking to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
Waldo Fidel, the garbage man driving the truck, looked at his surveillance camera as the arm tipped the contents of the can into the truck.
He saw Elias falling into the truck, which was about to start compacting.
Thinking fast, Fidel hit the stop button just in time.
The compacting blades stopped just before they reached Elias.
Elias started screaming anyway.
The child’s grandmother heard these screams from inside her home and assumed the worst.
“I thought that Elias was under the wheels.” – Elias’s Grandmother talking to FOX 13 Tampa Bay.
The grandmother rushed outside and looked around for Elias. She could hear his screams but not see him.
Waldo Fidel went outside and told Elias’s grandmother that everything was all right. Then he climbed on top of the truck and helped the boy make his escape.
Elias’s grandmother then learned about what had happened.
She thanked Fidel and told off her grandson. She made sure to teach him to be more cautious in the future.
A little later, Elias and Fidel were able to meet again. Elias thanked the garbage man for saving him.
FOX 13 Tampa Bay then made a report on this story. They asked if Elias had learned his lesson about climbing into garbage cans. He told the reporter that he would only do it again if it was a tiny trash can that was inside his home.
A YouTube upload of this report has become popular.
In a few months, it has gained over 36,000 views. It also has more than 300 likes and dozens of comments. People have been saying things like this:
Stories like this show why we shouldn’t judge people because of their professions.
Lots of people mock garbage men. But people like Waldo Fidel prove garbage men are important members of the community in more ways than one. If it weren’t for Fidel, Elias would not be alive today.
And being a garbage man is a hazardous job.
Waste Advantage Magazine states that sanitation work is the third riskiest job in the USA. In fact, the fatality rate of garbage men is seven times higher than firefighters. The magazine also says that many towns train garbage men to spot crime, which makes their neighborhoods safer.
So the next time you see a garbage man, remember that they may be a hero.
For all you know, they’ve saved children from being crushed and stopped all kinds of crimes from taking place.
Watch the report of the amazing rescue below!
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