Hawk-Eyed Grandma Declared Hero For Saving 1-Year-Old On Amber Alert

Dec 29, 2022 by apost team

A vigilant grandma made use of her passion to save a little boy from getting abducted!

Barbara Gusse has always been passionate about birdwatching. But little did she know that her passion would play a crucial role in saving the life of a one-year-old boy from Minnesota in February of 2021.

It was just any other day for Gusse, who had been keeping an eye on the birds that visit her place often when she received an Amber alert on her phone: a 2005 white Jeep Grand Cherokee with a one-year-old boy named Da'Merion White was stolen. At that time, the alert flashed on her screen; White had already been missing for two hours.

Gusse had just come back inside her house when she realized that there was a car at a church parking lot across her street.

"It was running, you could see the exhaust because it was so cold," she told Star Tribune.

So, she went into action, grabbed her binoculars, and zoomed in on a plate number of a vehicle across the street. Much to her surprise, the plate number matched the one from the alert: CRY-661.

Recalling what she felt at that time, she said: "My heart went to my feet." "I was shaking so bad I couldn't hold a cup," she added.

Once she realized she had correctly identified the license, she decided to call the police right away to inform them.

"I was thinking about my own grandchildren," Barbara said. "If something like that happened to them I would be beside myself."

When she heard the baby crying, Gusse immediately rushed outside her house." I started shaking and crying," she said.

Everything happened so fast that time as White's mom, DaMarria Dotson, started the car, placed her child in the back seat, went back inside her home to grab something, and went back outside again with the vehicle nowhere in sight.

Thankfully, it didn't take long enough for her to reunite with her son. "Somebody called me and told me he was found, and I told them to tell me where the location was and I made it there in a matter of eight minutes," Dotson told KARE11.

Despite losing items such as money and important papers, Dotson said what was important was she able to see her child again.

Gusse made it possible for the mother and child to see each other again in just three hours. The grandmother of nine said she isn't a hero. "Honey, I'm no hero. I'm just a grandmother," she said.

Then again, the people from where she came from think otherwise. That's why the mayor of Minneapolis himself, Mayor Jacob Frey, officially proclaimed every 9th of February Barbara Gusse Day.

In the video of the proclamation ceremony uploaded on Frey's official Facebook page, Gusse was handed out a plaque honoring her.

"A bright spot in a dark day. Met Barb Gusse to thank her with an official proclamation for her everyday heroism (and penchant for birding) that helped bring one-year-old Da'Merion home safely this weekend. She's an absolute delight," Frey said.

Meanwhile, John Elder, the spokesman for Minneapolis Police Department, was all praises for Gusse's exemplary move to assist them.

"The fact that she was alert and willing to reach out is beyond appreciated," he said.

With Gusse putting an end to a harrowing ordeal for the Da'Merion family, she turned a terrifying day into a heartwarming one.

apost.com

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