TJ Smith, an 11-year-old boy from Texas, reminds us that bravery isn’t counted by our age, but by our will to step up for someone in need.
It was this last December when TJ was playing around Wichita Falls and spotted something out of the ordinary. One man grabbed a 7-year-old girl while she was riding her scooter outside her home.
The alleged kidnapper named Raeshawn Perez picked the girl up, but TJ realized that strange man was a stranger to the 7-year-old. That raised red flags as TJ knew the girl was in a serious trouble.
Quick-thinking TJ ran back home to his mom and told her of what he had witnessed. She then alerted one of their neighbors, James Ware, who headed towards the abandoned house where Perez took the girl.
At the time he arrived there, Ware saw Perez trying to push the girl through the window.
Luckily, Ware and another man who found himself at the scene were able to get to Perez. They knocked him on the ground and waited until police arrived.
At that point, Perez admitted he wanted to assault the little girl.
Once Perez was arrested, Mayor of Wichita Falls, Stephen Santellana, spoke to the public about the incident and expressed gratitude to all the people involved in saving the girl.
Thanks to TJ and his neighbor Ware everything turned out right. If it wasn’t for them who knows what would have happened to the poor child.
As a thank you for his bravery, TJ got a certificate of appreciation by the Mayor and the Police Chief, Manuel Borrego.
Borrego said how their community is a safe place because the people living there care for one another and asked them to continue doing so.
Share this story to salute these people’s bravery.