In 1971, a house fire raged as a mother and her three daughters stood outside screaming that a baby was still in the house.
A young passerby stopped and, with the help of the police, rescued the baby boy right before the ceiling fell in on his bedroom. Rick Freund passed the baby to the police and then walked away without saying a word.
The family knew little about the man and only learned that his last name was Freund after the fire was covered by a local newspaper and a friend of Rick’s spoke up. One of the young girls that were involved in the fire had always wanted to know more about the man who had saved her little brother.
The girl even wrote about the story in college.
Their mother had written a note to the newspaper a short time after the fire, signing it with her son Bobby’s name at the bottom. She didn’t know who to address it to, but she hoped the man who had saved her baby would see it.
“You brought me to safety and disappeared before my parents could express their gratitude, but heroes don’t want to be thanked. Thank you is too inadequate for saving my life. But I know that mommy and daddy will do their best to teach me right from wrong and to do just like you did. You saw it had to be done and you did it. We will never forget you. – Bobby”
Forty-six years later, the family decided it was time to find their hero, so they could give him thanks he deserved.
They wrote a letter to the local newspaper, asking them to publish it. They hoped that Freund was still in the area and might see it and come forward.
The newspaper, the Fresno Bee, did more than just publish the letter; the staff found Rick and arranged for him to meet with the family.
He met with the sisters and later their brother who he had rescued. Bobby is well-known in the area as the co-owner of Pumpkin King Pumpkin Patch in Fresno. Growing up, he was told of the man who saved his life and he works to help other people by sponsoring blood drives at his business.
Bobby explained:
“We put a lot of sweat and blood and tears into that blood drive and I guess that will be what I’m most proud of, that every year we get to go down there and save lives.”
Over the past 18 years, they have collected over 18,000 pints of blood. This wouldn’t be possible if Rick hadn’t saved his life as an infant.
It turns out, Bobby isn’t the only person that Rick has saved over the years.
He has given CPR to a person suffering from a heart attack, used the Heimlich maneuver on someone who was choking, and even saved a dog while hunting.
Aside from learning that the two men both enjoy helping people, they also found out they have a lot of other things in common.
They both enjoy hunting and are even planning a hunting trip together. Rick also plans on buying all his future pumpkins from Bobby. Rick is happy to know that the baby he saved has grown up to be a man who works to save the lives of others.
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