1st Grader Saves Mom's Life By Secretly Giving Note To School Bus Driver To Call 911
The young child is credited with a heroic act of bravery.
Volodymyr TVERDOKHLIB | Shutterstock Sometimes big heroes come in small packages. That was certainly true for one Iowa mom who turned to her first grader for help by asking the child to pass an important note to their school bus driver. The anonymous mom was in desperate need of help, but had no way to reach out for any without making an already precarious situation even worse.
That’s where her kid came in. She gave them a note to pass to their school bus driver, instructing the driver to call 911. The driver did so, and she was able to get much-needed help from first responders. Now, her child is credited with saving her life, and their story is making headlines.
A 1st grader got their bus driver to call 911, saved their mom, and now a dangerous man is behind bars.
According to News 13, the first grader is a student from the Sumner-Fredericksburg School District in Fayette County, Iowa. The child handed a note their mother had written to their school bus driver. It simply read, “Call 911.” The driver could have easily written this off as some kind of prank, but something told them that this was a serious situation. They called authorities and directed them to the child’s address.
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The note handoff, which occurred at 7:24 a.m., as reported by ABC 6, led police officers to respond to a home in Westgate, Iowa. They reportedly found the student’s mother there, badly injured and being held against her will by 29-year-old Glenroy Stefand Miller. Miller had held the woman through the night, going so far as to break two ribs and puncture a lung by kicking her, visibly bruising her face, and threatening to stab her.
Since the woman was being held against her will, she had no way to call for help herself. So, she did the only thing she could think of and turned to her child. The child was obviously very brave to hand the note to their bus driver under such circumstances, and to have been stuck in the house with their mother during that terrifying night.
The accused man now faces four different charges.
ABC 6 reported that Miller was being held in the county jail on four charges, which include domestic abuse assault, willful injury, kidnapping, and obstruction of an emergency communication device.
According to CBS 2, Miller is currently held on a $1,500 bond. Because he is originally from the Bahamas, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is involved.
Miller admitted to police that he had almost taken the woman to the hospital during the night after assaulting her. They were on the way there before he turned around because he knew he would be arrested if he took her to seek medical attention. It turns out he was bound to meet that fate no matter what, all thanks to a kid that he probably didn’t give a second thought to.
Nearly 40% of women have experienced violence at the hands of a partner.
It's important to note that we do not know the nature of the relationship between this mom and Miller. The crime itself, however, opens the door to discuss what has become all too common: violence against women.
The CDC described intimate partner violence as a "significant public health issue” and defined it as “abuse or aggression that occurs in a romantic relationship.” The National Domestic Violence Hotline revealed that over 12 million people are affected by intimate partner violence annually. The outlet noted that 35.6% of women and 28.5% of men “have experienced physical violence and/or stalking by an intimate partner in their lifetime.”
When you can’t trust the person you’re supposed to be able to trust, no matter what, then what do you have left? Luckily, this woman had her child to count on when she truly needed help.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence or the threat of domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline for help at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), or go to www.thehotline.org
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
