An 18-year-old from Naugatuck is being called a hero for his quick thinking that could have saved a child’s life.
Alex Torres was bowling with friends at Bass Pro Shops for a friend’s birthday. While he was outside, he and friends spotted a child locked in a car, banging on the car window and sweating.
Police say they got the call just before 5 p.m. Wednesday. But before they could even respond, Torres put his arm through the car window, setting the child free.
“I just one time, boom, it shattered, the kid is out of the car, and everybody is good,” Torres said.
He left for the hospital where he received 16 stitches in his arm.
“I’m blessed to be here, god brought me here, just to save that young lady,” Torres said.
Police arrested the operator of the car, Rubeidi Montero-Matos of Bridgeport, charging him with risk of injury to a minor, first-degree reckless endangerment and more.
“My first instinct was I wouldn’t want my kid to go through that, I wouldn’t want any kid to go through that,” Torres said.
Police say they intend to reach out to Torres to say thank you.
“I wish more people would get involved, especially when you see a young child in danger like that, so I applaud him,” Bridgeport Police Chief Roderick Porter said.
They want to remind people that leaving children unattended in a car is never acceptable.
“A situation like that, that can be a life-or-death situation for a young child,” Porter said.
Medical professionals agree.
“It becomes a deadly situation in a hurry,” Chief Medical Officer for Saint Mary’s Hospital Dr. Husnain Kermalli said.
Kermalli said heat exhaustion can occur within minutes for children. They struggle to regulate temperature the way an adult does. When a person’s internal temperature reaches 104 degrees, heat stroke can set in, inducing vomiting, brain fog and can even put a child in a coma.
By an internal temperature of 107 degrees, Kermalli said death is imminent.
He said on days where temperatures are climbing over 90, internal temperatures of cars can climb over 110 degrees.
“Any amount of time for a child in a locked car like that is too long,” Kermalli said.
Torres isn’t calling himself a hero, but he does expect a scar, and with it…
“A good story to tell,” Torres said.