Good Samaritan helps save 2-year-olds who escaped from Summerville daycare

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCSC) – A good Samaritan helped save two young children who had ended up near a busy roadway in Summerville after they escaped from a nearby daycare.

Kirbie Washington was driving along Old Trolley Road just after 10:30 a.m. on Thursday when she noticed two young children on the side of the street near Cadence Academy.

“Like, I was in shock,” she said. “I was driving, and I noticed two small kids getting closer and closer to the road and no adult was around, nobody was running towards them.”

Washington said she stopped her car in the middle of the street to get the 2-year-olds to safety.

“I ran past the younger girl first because she was on the sidewalk just picking up rocks, but the little boy was actually off of the sidewalk in the road,” Washington said.

After getting the two children to safety, Washington called Summerville Police for help.

“I was actually on the phone with my fiancé,” Washington said, “and I was like, ‘Hey, there’s kids outside!’ And he’s like, ‘I’m hanging up, call 911.’”

Officers arrived soon after, and according to the police report, the daycare center’s director said the 2-year-olds got out through a hole in the fence caused by one of the broken fence boards.

This happened while a teacher was gathering the children to come inside from playing.

The teacher then called out for help once the children went missing, and the daycare center’s director and another staffer went outside to look for them.

“Then, the daycare workers ran out, two of them ran out to me, and they were like, ‘Thank you, thank you so much,’” Washington said.

The parents of these children were notified of what happened, and Washington, who has three children of her own, is glad they’re safe.

“[My maternal instinct] just kicked in, and it was like an automatic reflex just to get to the kids and make sure they were safe,” Washington said.

Cadence Academy’s assistant director said she could not comment on what happened.

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