Man Stops His Car After Seeing Distressed Father’s Signals - His Intervention Saves a Life

Ryan Cornelissen, 21, was driving to a bank in Michigan when, all of a sudden, a man flagged him down.

When he pulled over, the man was clearly distressed but he didn't speak English so Cornelissen couldn't understand what he was saying. But there was one word he could decipher: "wife."

An extraordinary outing

Looking into the car, Cornelissen saw that the man's wife had given birth to a baby girl, but she couldn't breathe.

So the good samaritan immediately called 911.

"Something’s wrong with his wife, he doesn’t speak very good English. He stopped me on the side of the road," Cornelissen told emergency dispatchers, according to the Daily Mail.

Performing CPR

But there was something wrong- the 3-pound baby was born prematurely and wasn't breathing.

Without enough time to take the baby to the hospital, dispatchers asked Cornelissen to perform CPR, but the 290-pound former football player didn't know what to do.

So, dispatchers walked him through it.

"Tilt its head back just a little, but not too much, OK? ... You're going to cover the baby's nose and mouth with your mouth," the dispatcher instructed Cornelissen, according to the Daily Mail.

I did the second breath and I stepped back and he goes, 'Is the baby breathing?' I said no. And then all of a sudden the baby made a crying face.

Ryan Cornelissen

Stranger saved a life

When the baby started breathing again, Cornelissen couldn't contain his happiness and relief.

"I remember the face to a T," he said later before making a scrunched-up crying face. "That was the face. I swear to God. That was the face. It was awesome."

The baby was then taken to hospital, where it stayed for a few weeks before being taken home with the new parents.

When asked if he felt like a hero for saving the baby's life, Cornelissen was modest.

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal but apparently everyone else does," he laughed.

The kindness of strangers

Who knows what would've happened to this baby if Cornelissen didn't stop to help? But he did, and I'm willing to wager that others would too. That's because, more often than not, strangers are kind and willing to help. All you need to do is ask them.

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