A homeless man in Southern California saved a baby’s life after the parent of the child lost control of the stroller, and the baby was heading toward speeding traffic. The homeless man, Ron Nessman, who had been unemployed for years, had just exited a job interview at a Southern California Applebee’s location when he noticed the out-of-control baby carriage and rushed in to save the infant inside.
Nessman noticed the baby’s great-aunt struggling to pursue the runaway infant. The woman stumbled to the ground and failed to rescue the baby, so Nessman stepped in and did what a hero does – he saved the infant from flying into oncoming traffic and getting run over by a car or truck.
In the wake of his heroic rescue of the infant, Nessman told NBCLA on Thursday that he was hired for the job he interviewed for at the Applebee’s restaurant. After eight years of homeless life, he will be working for wages as a dishwasher at the restaurant.
“I’ll earn everything I get, so with that in mind, you know, I appreciate the opportunity that Applebee’s has given me. It’s really cool,” Nessman said.
Later, a manager at the Applebee’s location confirmed that Nessman was hired as an employee. The manager also confirmed that the fact that he saved the baby did not play into the restaurant’s decision to hire the homeless man for the dishwashing job.
“He’s a great guy, and he was a great candidate, and he’ll definitely fit with us here in Team Victorville at Applebee’s,” said general manager Emily Canady.
In response to the rescue of the baby, people have launched online fundraising to help give Nessman a leg up on his journey to a more successful life. However, the homeless man said he doesn’t want other people’s money and wants to pick himself up by the bootstraps and earn his own way to a better life.
“I gotta come to work tomorrow and I can hardly wait to start doing what I do, you know what I mean? It’s going to be a good feeling,” Nessman said.
At the time, Nessman had no idea that the video of his rescue went viral. But then, family members from Florida and Missouri reached out to him to let him know that they saw him being a hero on TV. Nessman is just glad that the baby and her great-aunt are doing all right.
Nessman had been sitting on a carwash bench when he saw the stroller go out of control toward the four-lane Bear Valley Road. The stroller was pushed by strong winds through the high desert environment.
In a conversation with KCAL News, Nessman said, “I didn’t have time to even think about it. You just react. I heard screaming to the right, she said. And I look back, and I see a stroller going down the driveway, and my heart dropped.”
He saved the baby from going into the road where cars speed as fast as fifty-five miles per hour that time of day.
He said: “I knew I could get it, and I got it, and I’m thankful for that because I really wouldn’t want to see the end result if I wasn’t there. She tried everything she possibly could to get up. Her knees were bleeding when I got up to her. She was still shocked, and she was crying.”
