Being a parent is a never-ending job. You teach, love, and guide the children every single day to help them become the individuals they are supposed to be. But not everything can be taught. Sometimes, the instincts that children act with show the depth of their upbringing or, in some cases, the lack of it.
12-year-old Ben Theriot was out on a shopping trip with his mother. Things took an uncanny turn when on their way back, Ben saw a random car parked at the side of the road. Before his mother could fathom what is happening, Ben ran to the car and started hitting its windshield. She was astounded at her son's behavior. But there was more to it than meets the eye.
Ben Theriot is a 12-year-old resident of Tulsa, Oklahoma. He is a dark-haired, fair skin, friendly little boy. He has three brothers and is the second-eldest of the lot. Growing up with three brothers can be intimidating for some. But not for Ben, he loved having companions he could share things with.
The bond between brothers is precious. They are your best friend, they tease you and love you in their own way. Ben and his brothers have always shared a loving relationship, even the brother who is older than him and will be off to college this year. The younger two were still in school, just like Ben.
It was the month of August and Ben was enjoying his summer break. Summer was his favorite time of the year apart from Christmas. The sky is a pretty color of blue, the sun is always gleaming vividly. Even though summers in Oklahoma are really hot, Ben didn't mind. Most of his days were spent outside playing Basketball with his friends.
Unlike other kids, Ben enjoyed going to school. Even though he was more into Basketball than Math, he succeeded in getting good grades regardless. He was especially thrilled these days because he was going to begin 7th Grade this September.
Before the commencement of the term, it is essential to have all the school supplies. And that was the agenda for today on Ben and his mother's, Nikki Fields, to-do list. Nikki knew her son is growing up and that means every year entails a new set of uniforms. She had picked up his new uniform already, so now the only thing left was a fresh pair of shoes and some stationery supplies.
Ben and Nikki stepped out of the house around noon that day. They were on their way to the Highland Plaza Shopping Center. Nikki had a few stores in mind where she wanted to check for Ben's footwear. The mother and son duo got in their car and were ready to hit the road.
Having lived in this town his whole life, Ben was still amazed every time he would glance out the car window. Tulsa was that kind of a city, that has the capability of leaving you mesmerized even if you have been here your whole life. It was a city made up of wide streets and small spaces to sit and relax as people went about their day.
The tall skyscrapers took up the places where once old houses used to be. The rest of the town was parks and wild spaces, for people to stroll or ride their bikes. Ben loved the river that flowed in the heart of the city. He would always pause on the bridge to look at the view before crossing it. It was Ben's home and he cherished every part of this place.
Nikki pulled up in the parking lot of the shopping center. It was packed with cars and finding a spot to park seemed impossible. After driving around the block twice, Nikki finally managed to find a spot in the last row. But this meant it was quite a walk from the car to the complex.
If the parking lot was packed with cars, then it was obvious the complex will be crowded with their owners. Ben let out a sigh. His mom was quite a shopper and from the looks of the sparkle in her eyes, he knew he was in for a long day.
An hour and a half later, both of Ben's arms were grasping onto multiple shopping bags, as his mother came out of yet another store. Amongst the hustle and bustle of buying things they didn't need, Ben reminded his mother what they came looking for in the first place, his shoes. Nikki's sheepish smile proved that she had forgotten about it.
Finally, Ben and Nikki went inside a footwear store and found him a fresh pair of shoes for school. Ben realized that didn't even take half as long as how much time they have spent at the shopping complex already. But given his mother's love for shopping, this was bound to happen.
As predicted, the walk to their car parked in the last row was exhausting. The sun was blazing in the sky, and those hundreds of shopping bags were not helping either. Either way, the duo had no option but to push through. They were almost halfway there when Nikki's cellphone started ringing in her pocket.
As Nikki spoke on the call, Ben waited for her to finish. The heat was getting harsher by the minute but she seemed to be on an urgent call with a client. Ben tried to catch her attention but she signaled for him to wait quietly.
As Ben waited for his mother to be done with the call, his eyes caught sight of a parked car in the lane next to where they were standing. It was a white Prius and there was no other vehicle parked next to it. Ben was not much into cars so he didn't know what it was about the car that caught his attention.
Suddenly Ben heard a strange sound coming from the car's direction. He was not sure if it was coming from inside the car or just from the same direction. And then he heard it again, he slowly got closer to the car to investigate. Nikki, who was still on the phone, was unaware of what is happening.
As Ben approached the car, his eyes went wide when he realized where the sound is coming from. He signaled to his mom, who assumed he is just being impatient. Nikki dropped her phone at the ground when she witnessed what happened next. Ben took a piece of stone and started hitting the passenger side window of the car.
Nikki was horrified at her son's actions. As she sprinted towards him, he dropped the stone and started running back to their car. Nikki was stunned at what is happening. Ben has never behaved like this before. Smashing someone's car? Why? Is this because it was taking her a long time on the call? She couldn't believe her son would act so recklessly.
What Nikki didn't realize was that Ben was not running away from her, he was running towards their car to find something. The 12-year-old found a ratchet strap in the back of his mom's car. He quickly grabbed the tool and came back running. Nikki was confused about what is happening, and that is when she heard the sound too.
Nikki approached the car cautiously and peeked inside through the window that Ben cracked. A gasp escaped her lips. It finally made sense why Ben had reacted the way he did. He was not trying to crack the car. He was trying to break the window. Her thought process came to an abrupt halt as she saw Ben running towards her with some tool in his hand.
Ben came rushing towards the car, he looked at his mother who was panicking by now and asked her to call for help. He tried to smash the window again, but it just left a bigger crack than the last time. Ben decided to try and break the windshield of the car with the tool. He reached around the car and started bashing the windshield.
Nikki was on her phone trying to call for help. Ben swung the tool over his shoulder and hit the windshield right in the center. He kept hitting it over and over and around this time, an employee from the nearby store saw what was happening. She ran towards the car assuming Ben is trying to break into someone's car. That is when Ben revealed the truth.
Ben explained to the employee that he is not breaking into the car or trying to cause damage to it. He heard something, a sound coming from inside the car. And when he went to check, it was a wailing baby in the backseat of the car. Given the extreme heat and sunlight, this car is parked with the windows closed, it probably feels like an oven inside.
The employee, on realizing the urgency of the situation, ran back to the store to see how she could help the boy. She returned with a section of a clothing rack. By this time Ben had already stomped on the windshield leaving a pretty huge crack in it. The employee then pulled the clothes rack in the hole and pulled out the whole windshield.
Ben ran to unlock the car and Nikki rushed in to grab the baby from the back seat. The baby was crying hysterically by this point. His face was red but he didn't seem to have any injuries, despite the ordeal he was in. However, it is undoubtful that the baby escaped a pretty bad situation. As per the news, the heat index that day was 116°F.
Nikki's call came through, and the parking lot was flooded with police cars and social service workers. The mother of the child was found shopping in a nearby store. She could not be less bothered by the whole situation, all she cared to say was "Can I have my baby back?" But the police refused blankly. They had to investigate this case further.
Unfortunately, this was not the only case that had come to the police's attention. There have been several cases in which a parent left their kid behind in a hot car unaware of the circumstances. San Jose State University’s Department of Meteorology and Climate Science indicates that between the years 1998 and 2018 a staggering amount of 792 kids have passed away due to such instances in the U.S. alone.
Despite raising public awareness, similar cases resulting in death keep happening. In NYC, a father locked his 1-year-old twins in his car for several hours. The twins were found in a horrifying state with their core body temperature being 108°F. However, in Ben's case, paramedics were not sure about how long the baby was in the car when he found him, but at least he was able to save his life.
Several states across the U.S. introduced a law called "Forget Me Not Vehicle Safety Act" back in 2008. The law states that children under the age of seven are not to be left alone in the car, "if the conditions including – but not limited to – extreme weather, inadequate ventilation or hazardous or malfunctioning components within the vehicle present a risk to the health or safety of the unattended child."
The mother was charged a fine of $250 as she violated the Forget Me Not Vehicle Safety Act. Since this was the first time she had dishonored the law, the police called off the social services and gave the baby back to her with a warning. And as a safety measure, the local Department of Human Services will be looking into the child's care.
Around 21 states in the U.S. have a "Good Samaritan" regulation, which allows the passer-by to break into a vehicle and begin a rescue if an abandoned child appears to be locked inside. Given such laws, Ben was within his rights to break into the car. He did the right thing and ended up saving the toddler's life.
Jeanne Pierce, an officer at Tulsa Police Department, made a statement saying, “Within minutes, that child could have passed out and become ill from an injury due to the heat. Time was of the essence in that situation. We'd rather have a broken windshield than a child's death. Any individual wouldn't be in trouble with us in that situation because they saved the life of that child.”
When Nikki posted the whole incident on her Facebook, the story went viral. People were sending out comments praising Ben for what he did. Several media companies covered this story. Fox23 News even made a whole video and interviewed Ben and Nikki about the incident.
In her interview, Nikki mentioned how scared she was, "I was scared because I don’t want to be in trouble. But Ben just jumped right into the action and didn’t even hesitate." In her Facebook post, Nikki called Ben a hero for saving the baby's life. "I'm just very proud of Ben. I'm glad he knew what to do." Nikki said to Fox23 News
Safe Kids Tulsa Area shared Nikki's opinion as they honored Ben with a Badge Of Courage certification. The organization is a local branch of the international Safe Kids Worldwide. It aims to provide supervision to all to help in stopping Children from getting injured.
The coordinator who provided the certificate to Ben on behalf of the organization, said, "This year so far, we have lost 34 children nationwide (after they were left in cars). Fortunately, in Oklahoma, we haven't lost any and thanks to Ben, he for sure saved one of those children who could have been a statistic."
The coordinator from Safe Kids Worldwide informed Ben that he made a really smart move. Because in this case, if the baby was left in that hot car for just half an hour, it could have led to a catastrophe. The organization also mentioned that turning down a window would not have helped either because it would have little to no effect on the internal temperature of the car.
Ben's bravery caught the attention of people from all over the country. They couldn't stop applauding the 12-year-old. Some of the comments included, "Kudos and praise to the 12-year-old who has more sense and compassion than an adult mother." and "Awesome job. Glad you saved that baby."
Ben was crowned a hero by all. The comments were flooded by compliments. "You are my hero", one woman commented for the 12-year-old. Another shared that feeling by commenting, "This is a great young man. He is a hero."
All this while Ben had maintained a rather modest outlook. When asked to respond to the praises and compliments, Ben said in an interview with Safe Kids Worldwide, that the whole incident was really just about doing the right thing. He didn't think any of this will happen. After all, he was just out to buy some new shoes.