Per reports, the 911 caller told the dispatcher that they had spotted a baby left alone in a car. The responding officer, Lt. Jason, rushed to the Walmart shopping plaza and reportedly ‘saw a baby in a car’ – a blanket, a bottle and finally two bare feet, motionless, emerging from beneath the blanket. When Lt. Jason arrived on the scene, he found that the car’s windows were rolled up, and the child’s parents or guardians were nowhere to be seen. The responding officer then broke into the car to rescue what he thought was an abandoned infant, but only after smashing one of the windows did he realize that he had made a huge mistake that he would not be able to fix.
He pulled out the infant and noticed that it was not breathing, so he began to administer mouth-to-mouth breaths. However, the infant’s lungs did not inflate as he thought they should. Rather than an infant, Lieutenant Jason discovered a lifelike doll tucked into a real car seat. It was wearing clothes and had been left in the locked car for unknown reasons. Fortunately, no harm was done to the toy, and the owner of the vehicle could easily repair the broken window. But Lt. Jason was left feeling quite embarrassed for the mistake.
When the officer found the owner of the doll, Carolyne, who was getting her hair cut during the incident, she told the officer that it was designed to look as much as a real baby as possible. Short said the doll even felt like a real baby when he picked it up. The woman had purchased the doll, named Ainslie from a doll nursery for $2,300 the week before the incident. The doll, called a “reborn” doll, is handcrafted from silicone so it looks as realistic as possible. She also has a collection of reborn dolls (SEE PHOTO). She says she plans to put a sticker on her car to alert others that the babies inside the car are not real.
This is an important reminder that even lifesaving heroes can make mistakes, but it’s how you respond to those mistakes that truly defines you. Lt. Jason reminded us all that a true hero is someone who never stops trying to help others no matter what the situation. The police department also issued a statement thanking Lt. Jason for his heroic efforts and reminded people of the dangers of leaving children in a car.
