Firefighters in South Snohomish County went above the call of duty after a mom and her infant son were hit by a car last week.
Johanna Castillo and her 5-week-old son, Cruz, were walking on the sidewalk north of Mill Creek when they were hit by a car pulling out of a driveway.
The stroller carrying baby Cruz became wedged under the bumper of the car, but firefighters say he was buckled in and unharmed. Castillo walked away from the accident with bumps and bruises, but Cruz’s stroller was destroyed.
“The stroller actually did not come off the front of the bumper. We had to break it to pull it off there” firefighter David Sherman explained. “Once I saw that and I knew the bars are bent and the wheels are done then I started to feel badly.”
Castillo is a mother of six and told firefighters she didn’t know what she was going to do without the stroller she used to get her youngest children around. That’s when Captain Dan Olson, firefighter and paramedic Jeanette Anderson and Sherman from Silver Firs Fire Station 13 decided to help.
“We wanted to finish it,” Sherman said. “If we leave and we know there's a problem and we just simply drive off and say it's not our problem, I don't know that that's the best customer care and that's really what we are here for.”
The three surprised the family and ordered the same two-seat stroller that was destroyed in the accident.
“It always feels good. That's why we're in this job to help people on their worst day, but this is kind of the little extra we get to do above that, so it's pretty neat,” Anderson said.
The trio were reluctant to share their story saying they didn’t help Castillo to get attention. They did enjoy talking about the Good Neighbor Program, which is supported by donations from fire department employees and paid for the new stroller. The fund is part of the Fire 1 Foundation which allows firefighters to help people they encounter when they are on a call.
