After hearing about an Amber Alert in Minnesota, a woman named Barbara Gusse played a vital role in the rescue of a 1-year-old boy. But in this positive news story, the observant woman insists she’s not a hero, just a grandma!
On a snowy morning in Minnesota, the mother of one-year-old Da’Marion White made a serious mistake that she will likely never forget. After strapping the boy into her vehicle, she quickly ran inside to grab something.
But when she returned, her jeep was gone, along with her son.
Naturally, the young boy’s family was overwhelmed with worry. Police immediately issued an Amber Alert in Minnesota and went to work looking for the missing child.
Everyone prayed for the boy’s safety. And God used an observant grandmother to bring the boy home!
Amber Alert Minnesota
Grandma Barbara Guse has a passion for bird watching. And on the day Da’Merion disappeared, God used her hobby and divine timing to bring about a happy ending.
Barbara had just come in from feeding the birds in her yard when her watchful eye noticed something strange through the window. In the parking lot of the church across the street, she noticed a white SUV idling.
“It was running, you could see the exhaust because it was so cold,” she explained.
At that very moment, an Amber Alert from the Minnesota State Police came through her phone. The observant grandmother immediately recognized that the description of the vehicle in the alert matched the same vehicle in the church parking lot. She grabbed a pair of birdwatching binoculars and confirmed that the number plates were the same.
“My heart stopped,” Barbara Guse recalled later. “I was shaking so bad I couldn’t hold the cup.”
Barbara immediately called the police and waited by the window, sick with worry. Like a grandmother herself, she couldn’t stop thinking about how she would feel if her only child were missing.
“I was thinking about my grandchildren,” Barbara later told her daughter. “If something like that happened to them, I would be beside myself.
Grandma To The Rescue
When the police arrived, Barbara pulled herself together and rushed outside. The police were opening the door of the vehicle and the sound Barbara heard was a loud crash.
“I could hear that baby crying and you know where my heart went, to the ground. “I started shaking and crying,” she said.
WATCH: Grandma helps rescue Amber Alert in Minnesota
The one-year-old boy in the vehicle was the one from the Minnesota Amber Alert. And thankfully, he was safe and sound.
“He was all smiles when the officers picked him up,” Minneapolis Police Department spokesman John Elder reported. “He seems to be quite a good-natured little fellow.”
As a precaution, the police sent the child to the hospital where doctors confirmed that he is fine. But without the help of Barbara Gussa, the story could have had a very tragic ending. John Elder went on to point out that Minnesota’s dangerous winter temperatures could have proved fatal had the abandoned vehicle run out of fuel.
“I’m so thankful that he was okay, what about mom and dad,” Barbara said. “That’s all that matters.”
And while those involved call Barbara a hero, the humble woman insists she’s anything but.
“Honey, I’m not a hero. I’m just a grandma,” she said.