A 5-year-old boy is alive and safe thanks to a local snowplow driver in West Bend, Wisconsin.
It was a happy ending to an absolutely terrifying story.
David Gehrke is now being hailed a hero in the community of West Bend, Wisconsin after he saved a 5-year-old little boy while he was wandering the streets in sub-zero temperatures in the middle of the night.
Gehrke amazingly happened to be at the right place at the right time.
Gehrke was working an early morning shift, plowing the neighborhood streets around 4 am, when something caught his eye.
“It was snowing, blowing and miserable. I realized that it was not a dog or a deer,” Gehrke told WISN 12 News.
“That was a small little boy dressed in a pair of just a zip-up, onesie pajamas.
But that light on the side of my truck illuminated him. 4 a.m., and it’s like, ‘What is he doing out here?’”
The little boy wasn’t wearing shoes, a jacket, gloves, or a hat – normal things that would be worn in a Wisconsin winter.
Knowing that he could never just leave a little boy wandering the streets alone during freezing temperatures at such an odd hour, Gehrke turned his snowplow around immediately.
The Good Samaritan approached the little boy and let him know that he was safe and there to help.
“I immediately took my jacket off, wrapped it around him and put him in the truck,” he recalled. “I called police dispatch. I got the heat blasting in the truck. I’ll keep him warm until we get help on the way.”
So this is how my morning stated. Heading out on my plow route at 4am. It is 5 above outside. As l was heading to start…
Posted by David Gehrke onFriday, February 12, 2021
The little boy turned out to be Maddox Pierce.
He was scared because he thought he was home alone, so he was making his way to his grandpa’s house.
The police met Gehrke and Maddox on the side of the road and were able to take the little boy home.
His 14-year-old aunt was babysitting him at the time while his mom, Brittany Weissenberger, was away at work.
When finding out about what happened with her son, Brittany Weissenberger couldn’t have been more grateful for Gehrke’s actions that night.
“I’ve been a mess since everything happened. He’s never, ever done anything like that before. I’m so thankful,” she said. “What are the odds that he would find him at that exact moment that he pretty much came outside?”
Of course, when the story was shared online, the snowplow driver also received an overwhelming amount of praise from complete strangers.
“What an absolutely wonderful and caring public servant!
These plow drivers and other city workers are the unseen and unsung heroes. Glad the little guy got home safe!” said one commenter on YouTube.
“Thank God for this man. Sweet little boy. Thank God he was saved,” said another.
Gehrke ended up being awarded for his actions, although he doesn’t consider himself a hero.
I just got a call tonight from the Public Works Director to congratulate me on what l did. He was informed at a meeting…
Posted by David Gehrke onMonday, February 15, 2021
The little boy was unharmed during the whole ordeal and we thank the quick-thinking actions of David Gehrke for helping Maddox that night.
Learn more about the scary ordeal in the video below.
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