A 10-year-old boy was walking home when a strange woman followed behind.
Sammy Green had just gotten out of school and walked his usual route to go home. He was surprised when a strange woman appeared beside him.
She said that she knew his dad and invited Sammy to go to Wawa, a convenience store. While walking, the woman kept asking about his family and his dad’s location.
Sammy didn’t know the woman at all.
He has never seen her in his entire life. Even if she knew his dad, he was not about to go anywhere with her.
“She said she probably knew me and was going to Wawa and that he was supposed to go with her and he could get anything he wanted,” Sammy said.
If you were 10 years old and this happened to you, what would you do?
Would you believe the woman? Will you look for police? Will you call the police? Will you run away?
Sammy’s parents taught him well.
They may not have told him exactly what to do with situations like this but they taught him to be observant, vigilant, critical, and how to think quickly.
And in this instance, these skills helped Sammy decide what to do.
He was almost home but Sammy made a detour that could potentially keep him safe. They passed by a store called Dani Bee Funky, which was across his home and Sammy’s favorite store.
Sammy went inside the store and straight to the cashier where 17-year-old Hannah Daniels was working.
He whispered in her hear, “Act like you’re my mom. This lady is following me.”
Hannah was quick on her feet and placed herself between Sammy and the woman, who was waiting by the door. The woman held the door open but stayed outside.
There was no audio in the security camera footage so we can’t be sure what Hannah said.
We can assume though that Hannah may have told the woman that she was Sammy’s mom and the woman needed to leave. Hannah was able to take the door from the woman, close and lock it.
Hannah told Sammy to go to the back but he didn’t want to leave Hannah.
As soon as Hannah locked the door, the woman left. Sammy breathed a sigh of relief and felt strong enough to tell Hannah what happened.
The Pottstown Police Department was able to locate the woman and was referred to mental health services.
Sammy’s father, Sam Green, is extremely grateful to Hannah for helping Sammy.
But it broke his heart that his son had to experience that.
“To see my child looking for help because he was afraid basically for his life, that cuts you deep,” Sam Green said.
Sammy was still shaking even when the woman was already gone.
And every time he watched the security footage, Sammy still cried every time. Sam really hopes this experience will encourage parents to teach their young children to be more aware.
“Think of every scenario and make sure that children know and also practice it,” he said. “Practice your situations and scenarios just like fire drills,” Sam added.
Watch what happened to Sammy and Hannah in the video below.
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