The Moment When The Mississippi Firefighter Uses A Cartoon Clip On A Phone To Calm A Four-Year-Old Car Crash Victim

by Scott McKay | September 9, 2015 2:09 pm

Our first responders are generally the best of us, and a story from the Mississippi gulf coast town of D’Iberville shows how that works in real life[1]…

This is the moment a firefighter calmed the young victim of a car crash by showing him a clip from Happy Feet on a cell phone.

A mother and her five children – aged between one and seven – were in a car that crashed on the I-10 eastbound exit near the D’Ilberville Boulevard in D’Ilberville, Mississippi, on Saturday.

The woman – named Vanessa – and three of the children were ejected from the Lincoln SUV when it lost control and went off the exit ramp, flipping over numerous times and crushing the roof.

The four-year-old boy and a sister were pulled from the car without any serious injuries as they were in car seats.

And as the little boy waited for an ambulance, Casey Lessard played the cartoon to distract him, thanks to a retired Los Angeles firefighter who stopped to help and provided the phone with the video.

D’Ibervile Fire Captain Darren Peterson said: ‘The video calmed him down instantly.’

Lessard help up the phone to play happy feet – a 2006 animated movie about a dancing penguin – as the child lay on a stretcher.

As they waited for an ambulance, Lessard said he wanted to take the child’s mind off what had happened and played the first movie he could find on Netflix.

‘He was still scared. He watched the movie for a little bit with me, but then he’d go back to fidgeting and worrying about his family,’ he told the New York Daily News.

‘I just did my job,’ he added.

A fundraising page set up to help the family cover medical costs said the mother had broken serveal bones, including her spine but has managed to take some steps, and two of the children remain in a critical condition.

It said: ‘The two youngest children, Jaxon and KK, were pulled from the overturned car with no scratches.

‘Gabriel, Avianna, Todd, and Vanessa were ejected from the vehicle. Gabriel was taken to Oschner’s in New Orleans and had several wounds stitched up.

‘Avianna and Todd are currently at USA Women’s and Children’s in critical condition. Vanessa broke several bones including her spine, was operated on, and took her first steps.’

It added: ‘The family is obviously out of work during these days and medical bills are stacking up. Anything would help them as they are trying to get through this time.’

You have to love the quick thinking and compassion on display in such terrible circumstances. Kudos to the D’Iberville Fire Department for the professionalism of its employees.

Endnotes:
  1. story from the Mississippi gulf coast town of D’Iberville shows how that works in real life: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3226878/Touching-moment-firefighter-comforts-four-year-old-victim-car-crash-showing-cartoon-Happy-Feet-cell-phone.html

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/america/the-moment-when-the-mississippi-firefighter-uses-a-cartoon-clip-on-a-phone-to-calm-a-four-year-old-car-crash-victim/