A Colorado postal worker rescued a six-year-old girl after her mother overdosed in a parked car.
RELATED STORIES:Â NFL Star Jaylon Ferguson Died From An Accidental Drug Overdose Caused By Combined Effects Of Fentanyl And Cocaine
Andrew Russell was working his usual route when he heard a child’s voice and said the girl was screaming for help as her mother was passed out behind the wheel. “I noticed a car was pulled off on the side of the road. There was a funny noise, almost like an engine was revving, and then I heard a child’s voice that sounded pretty hysterical. So, the second I heard that I just immediately ran over,” he explained to KDVR. Police identified the woman as 25-year-old Ashlee Figgers and said she overdosed after taking a fentanyl pill.
The closer I got, I heard, ‘My mommy’s dead!’ So I immediately ran over there and dropped my mail in this lady’s front yard and made sure the kid was out of the backseat first, and then I checked on the mom —- she was slumped over,”
RELATED STORIES:Â Groom Nearly Overdoses On Wedding Day After Someone Spiked His Drink
Russell immediately contacted 911 after finding the girl and her mother in the vehicle, and bodycam footage revealed that the woman confessed to taking a fentanyl pill. The six-year-old girl could also be heard explaining to officers what happened to her mother and said, “my mother wasn’t breathing.”Â
“I’m very grateful that he was there to help the child in the situation so that she had someone there that she could trust,” said Kylee Fischer, a Wheat Ridge Police Officer. Russell said he worked for the United States Postal Service for less than two months but was glad to save someone’s life.
“I was just in the right place, at the right time. Just doing my job. I have a little girl of my own, so it definitely hit a chord that way. She said thank you a couple times and yeah, it meant the world to me that she was just OK.”
The woman was later arrested for driving under the influence of drugs, possessing a controlled substance, and child abuse. However, informational officer Joanna Small said Figgers is not a lost cause and can still turn her life around.
“We hope she gets better,” Small says. “She is not a lost cause. Despite the fact she is being charged with child abuse, we know she loves her daughter. She made a terrible decision that could have been so much worse for her daughter. There is help for her, there are resources for her, and we hope she takes advantage of them. She can turn her life around.”
Figger’s daughter is currently with family members, and the department is reportedly grateful for Russell’s heroic work.
It’s a very tight-knit community. Very supportive community. If it wasn’t for people like him, we don’t know what would have happened. The girl is safe, and her mom didn’t overdose to the point she couldn’t be revived. We are incredibly grateful for his actions.”