Man rescues wandering toddlers from middle of busy traffic
By Gail Paschall-Brown
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BREVARD COUNTY, Florida (WESH) — John Brittingham rescued two toddlers who wandered into the middle of busy A1A traffic in Brevard County on Sunday, reuniting them with their unaware parents.
Brittingham stopped traffic with one hand and scooped up the toddlers along the busy road.
“I was terrified thinking of what could have happened to them. The rest of my life would have been ruined,” Brittingham said.
He was driving home southbound on A1A when he noticed the two little girls in the middle of the road. He immediately pulled over and ran out because one of them was already in the middle of the road. He grabbed that one first and then picked up the second, getting them off the road in about six seconds.
“My adrenaline spiked. I had a migraine when I finally got home. I was drained completely for the rest of the day,” he said.
Dash camera video from his vehicle’s front and rear cameras captured it all.
“You see the dash cam, they put their little arms out, oh my God, they’re adorable,” Brittingham said.
He then went looking for their parents, found an Airbnb, and knocked on the door, but no one answered. He went around the house, yelling for someone, but nobody seemed to hear him.
The girls, who he guessed to be about 2 years old or younger, could only point at things and say, “Ohh.”
Finally, he looked in the back gate, which he said was open. He added that’s how the children got out, and their parents were clueless to the fact that they were gone.
“There was an elderly couple and a young girl, and they immediately went into like, ‘Oh my God, we’re so sorry.’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, I know, I’m just glad I could get them back to you. They were out in the road, and your gate was open,'” Brittingham said.
Brittingham did not call the police.
“My main concern was to reunite them, and by that time I was glad they were with their parents,” he said.
Bottom line, Brittingham emphasized the importance of watching children. He and his wife have five children and grandchildren.
WESH 2 contacted Cocoa Beach Police and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
Cocoa Beach said it’s not its jurisdiction, and the sheriff’s office said there have been no reports or calls relating to the incident.
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