A five-year-old boy in the US walked two blocks to inform his grandfather that his parents had died of a drug overdose, saving his parents and ensuring rescue for his three-month-old sister.
According to Middletown, Ohio police, Aidan, 5, walked barefoot around 5 a.m. last Thursday and set off the alarm.
“He came in the door and his mommy and daddy didn’t follow him,” the child’s grandfather, Kenny Curry, told FOX8.
Ohio parents Lee Johnson and Chelsea Marshall were found dead from a heroin overdose after their 5-year-old child set off the alarm. Photo: Middletown Police Department
“All of a sudden he started saying, ‘Mommy and Dad are dead, Mommy and Dad are dead!'”
Two officers showed up and went to the boy’s home in Ohio, where they found his parents, Lee Johnson and Chelsea Marshall, dead of a heroin overdose.
Paramedics were able to revive the parents, and the boy’s 3-month-old sister was in a car seat inside the home, police said.
The parents were charged with child endangerment and police gave Aidan a “badge for being so brave.”
Marshall pleaded guilty Friday to two misdemeanor counts of child endangerment, according to the Journal News. She was sentenced to 180 days in jail. Johnson is being held on $50,000 bail and will face two counts of child endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct.
“He’s a really smart kid,” Carly told Fox 8 about Aidan, who is Marshall’s stepfather.
Butler County, which includes Middletown, has seen 192 overdose deaths and officials expect to deal with more than 500 heroin-related cases total this year, according to the Journal News.
“This 5-year-old is a hero and saved three lives today. How can something so wonderful be so sad at the same time,” the police department wrote on its Facebook page.
“… We’re sickened that there are people out there who don’t care so much about their children that they allow something like this to happen.”
Local police urged parents of drug-addicted children to seek help “before it’s too late”.
“Don’t just save yourself, save your children. Give your children a chance by seeking help. If you or a loved one has a drug problem, seek help now,” they wrote on Facebook.