ALPINE, Utah – It was a call that officers had never received, yet one Utah mother was frightened enough to call 911 when she discovered a newborn was in desperate need of formula, and she didn’t have any.
The woman’s husband was out of town and none of her neighbors answered their phones.
Fortunately, her local police department stepped up and helped her out of the desperate situation around 2 a.m. on Jan. 28.
Shannon Bird spoke with Fox 6 about the situation, saying, “I’ve never not had food for my newborn. It was really scary for me.”
In a recording of the 911 call, Bird tells the dispatcher that she tried calling her neighbors first, but none of them were answering. The mother-of-five explained that her husband was out of town and she was unable to breastfeed at the moment.
“I’ve been calling neighbors and no one will answer,” she said on the call. “I’ve never been in this predicament ever. My milk just literally dried out. This is my fifth kid and this has never happened.”
Officer Brett Wagstaff responded to the call. With the best intentions, he picked up a gallon of milk on his way to Bird’s house. However, when he arrived he learned the infant was too young for regular milk. As a result, he left the milk with Bird and quickly drove to a nearby Walmart, according to KSL-TV.
Wagstaff, a father himself, soon returned with proper formula and refused to take payment from Bird.
“Most of us, we got on this job to help people, and this was an example of helping out a mother that was in need,” Officer Dave Ventrano told Fox 6. “To this mom, this is a priority for her. It’s been about ‘protect and serve.’ This is part of the serve. We are here to serve the public.”
Home Chef and Hello Fresh are top rated food delivery plans. Perhaps Lone Peak Police should be rated right there with them!