A postal worker is giving God the glory after he helped rescue a missing toddler walking barefoot in Maryland.
Keith Rollins works for the USPS saw a little head on the freeway at 8 a.m., and wasn’t sure if it was human being or an animal, so he stopped and called 911.
Upon inspecting it turned out to be a barefoot 2-year-old wandering around on his own. “He was behind there shivering, cold,” Rollins said. “He only had a pair of sweatpants on and a sweatshirt, no shoes or socks. So I walked up to him and I said, ‘Hey buddy. How you doing? What’s your name? Are you OK?’ He looked at me, but I didn’t get a response from him.”
“Once I didn’t get a response from him, I decided to just scoop him up, and I took him to my vehicle. I had a sweater that I tried to cover him up with, and turned up the heat and I called the police back and said that I had the little boy in my vehicle, and within a matter of minutes, the police were there.”
The 2-year-old, named Ethan, is suspected to have autism and was missing since 10:40 p.m. the night before when he walked out of his family home in Elkridge, Maryland.
The Howard County Police Department shared a photo of the missing boy and a description. “Police and fire personnel, including K9 units, are doing a thorough search of the area but have yet to locate him,” they wrote. “Aircraft, including HCPD drones and helicopters from neighboring jurisdictions, are currently grounded due to weather.”
“Adeyemi is described as a black male, short for his age, last seen wearing burgundy sweatpants and a blue sweatshirt with white writing. He is not wearing socks or shoes.”
The police department updated everybody about Ethan’s recovery, thanks to the alert postal worker. “A U.S Postal worker driving on I-95 called 911 just after 8 a.m. after seeing Adeyemi on the side of the road,” they shared. “He told police he had seen reports this morning of a missing child with a photo of the little boy.”
“He stopped and took the child into his vehicle until emergency responders arrived. It appears Adeyemi walked approximately a half mile from where he went missing last night and was found on the side of I-95 northbound just prior to the Route 103.”
The toddler was taken to Johns Hopkins Hospital to be treated for hypothermia, but is at home and doing well now.
Rollins is modest about the whole incident and does not take any credit for it, “Giving glory to God that I was able to help at that particular time and be in the correct place at the right time,” he explained. “I was just glad to be a part of a good-ending situation. But a hero? Nah, not at all.”
“It was God-ordained that I be in that place at that time. Remarkable, man, remarkable.”
