When his great-grandmother suffered a serious fall, a 3-year-old boy braved the darkness to help save her life
Strasburg, Colorado — When Stephanie Peabody started looking through the security footage taken from her garage camera in Strasburg, Colorado, she was trying to piece together what exactly happened that February night.
Eventually, she not only found the answer, but the surprise of a lifetime.
It all started when Stephanie and her husband left their 3-year-old son Bridger with his great-grandmother, 78-year-old Sharon Lewis.
Bridger and his grandmother were walking into the Peabody home when Lewis tripped and hit her head on a concrete step. She couldn't get up, she was bleeding profusely, and she had left her phone in the car.
First, they tried yelling for help from the neighbors, but that did not work.
The only solution was for Bridger to return to Lewis' car and get her phone.
"He (Bridger) said, 'GG, they don't hear us,'" Lewis recounted to CBS News. "I said, 'I know, so you're going to have to go get my phone.'"
It was nighttime, and the path back to the car wasn't lit. It was in total darkness.
"I was a lot afraid," Bridger told CBS News. "…It's too dark."
"The dark is just a frightful thing for a little guy," Lewis said.
That was when Bridger whispered to himself these three little words caught on security video: "Don't be afraid."
Up to that point, Bridger had never even opened a car door, let alone faced such a life-and-death challenge.
But he was able to courageously make his way to Lewis' car and open the door. The darkness was defeated.
"I was so proud of him," Peabody said of her son.
It's been about three months since that accident. Lewis has healed, and new lights were installed in the backyard. But perhaps, the most significant change has been the family's new fearless attitudes.
Peabody said the incident has inspired her to pursue a career in special education.
"It's something I've always wanted to do, but now it's like taking the chance to do it: 'Don't be afraid,'" Peabody said. "I have it tattooed on my arm."
It's a reminder for the child inside all of us. Sometimes, true courage is being afraid and charging into the darkness anyway.
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