HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – A Harris County man was honored for his quick thinking and actions Wednesday, Aug. 10, after he saved an abandoned newborn baby girl.
“It was just God sent me to do that, it was just a blessing for me to do that,” said Albert Peterson.
Peterson said he usually leaves for work around 5 a.m., but for some reason woke up at 4 a.m. and left for work before sunrise.
As he was walking to his car at The Bridges of Cypress Creek apartment complex in North Houston, he heard what he thought was a cat.
“Then I said it can’t be a cat, so I kept walking as I walk further and further down the road the noise started getting louder,” Peterson said.
He followed the sound and found a newborn baby girl on the ground, covered in ants. Her umbilical cord was still attached.
Peterson took the baby to his apartment, where he called for help.
“I picked her up and run her to the house and my wife and told her, ‘I just found a baby!’ She said, ‘You found a baby?’ I said, 'Yeah,'” explained Peterson. “So I took her and we cleaned her up good, got all that mucus and all that wood and stuff off her back, then we gave her some milk and by this time that’s when the people came.”
The baby is recovering, and authorities said Peterson's actions may saved her life.
“Me personally talking to hospital staff, they told me that had the child not been recovered, the baby not been recovered when it happened, that it would have likely died,” said Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.
That is why on Wednesday, Peterson and his wife, Sherry Ann Gibson, received an official commendation from Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez for their actions.
Many other Harris County Sheriff's Office deputies were also recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty.
“We wanted to recognize him because too many times we don’t thank our citizens for their participation and many turn a blind eye and here we have a good Samaritan who took action,” said Gonzalez.
