A California man is being praised after saving a baby in a stroller from veering into oncoming traffic.
A woman was unloading her car outside of the A1 Hand Car Wash in Hesperia earlier this week when the stroller began rolling backwards toward the busy roadway, according to CW affiliate KTLA and ABC affiliate KABC-TV.
Inside was her great-nephew, CBS affiliate KCBS-TV reported.
Security footage from the scene shows the woman running after the stroller upon seeing it roll away, but tripping multiple times while attempting to catch up with it.
Then, just before the stroller rolls into the street, a good Samaritan jumps into the frame and grabs it just in time. Then, after pushing the baby back up the driveway, he gave the woman a hug.
That man, former truck driver Ron Nessman, told KCBS-TV he was sitting on a nearby bench when he saw the ordeal go down.
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did nothing,” Nessman told the outlet.
“I was just thankful I was at the right place at the right time,” he added while speaking with KTLA.
Nessman had taken his sister to the car wash after his job interview with Applebee’s, according to KABC-TV. He told the outlet that he was still in his interview clothes when the incident occurred around 3:30 p.m. local time.
“The wind was blowing so hard, by the time I got to it, it was at the top of that driveway,” Nessman told the outlet.
Luckily, he reached the stroller just in the nick of time. He then went back to help the woman, who “was crying” and “in shock,” per KTLA.
“Her knees were bleeding, she was traumatized from falling and from the baby going into traffic,” Nessman told the outlet. “I can only imagine what was going on in her head. It was heart-wrenching.”
Nessman recently moved to Hesperia while attempting to rebuild his life, KTLA reported. His girlfriend died in 2018, and he became homeless a short time later.
Now, he’s being hailed a hero and told KABC-TV that he hopes this is a sign of good things to come.
“If you want something different, you’re going to do something different, and today, I want something different out of life,” Nessman told the outlet.
