That day was supposed to be like any other day in the life of Adrian Young who works as a crossing guard at the Alexandria Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles.
The work day was over and Young was getting ready to head home when she suddenly heard loud screaming coming from the playground. A young girl in distress was shouting for help at the top of her lungs. “Please don’t let her take me. I don’t know her. She’s not my mom!”
Young realized that an act of kidnapping was unfolding right there in front of her eyes. She got really scared but she knew she needed to act quickly if she wanted to save the poor girl’s life. “I kind of went into mother mode,” Young later said, “because I couldn’t see myself letting this little girl be taken.”
The woman who was trying to kidnap the girl was quite big and tall. Young, on the other hand, is only 4-feet-8-inches tall. That, however, didn’t stop Young from stepping up and confronting the alleged kidnapper.
She ran towards the girl and told her to hold on to her as hard as she could.
“I just told her to grab onto me as tight as she could,” Young explained, “and I held onto her and the lady just began to attack me, so I just thought about attacking her to make sure she can’t take this little girl.”
Realizing that Young wouldn’t give up fighting, the kidnapper let go of the girl and started running. Young was relieved and happy the girl was safe. She then contacted the police and the girl’s family.
“If it wouldn’t have been for her I wouldn’t know where my daughter would be right now,” the girl’s mother, Sharon Arellano, said.
Young’s act of bravery was praised by the entire community. Los Angeles City Council member Mitch O’Farrell honored Young at a public event. “Sometimes superheroes come in small packages. And because of her diligence, training and awareness, and just because she cares so much about children, she prevented what could have been a kidnapping of a child,” he said of Young.
We are so glad Young found herself in the right place at the right time to do the right thing. She’s a very brave woman.
The kidnapper, who was identified as 50-year-old Maria Ramirez, was later arrested by the police and charged with felony kidnapping.
For more on the story go to the video below.