People can say what they will about social media. That it is a time waster and has turned our generation into narcissistic zombies who constantly seek validation.
But there are always two sides to everything: good and bad.
In one instance Facebook actually saved a family from being torn apart and brought home a newborn baby girl that was kidnapped. Mélissa McMahon had given birth 16 hours prior when her baby was snatched from her own arms at a hospital in Trois-Rivières, Quebec.
A woman dressed as a nurse reportedly walked into her hospital room and claimed that she had to take the baby for a routine test.
The parents handed the infant over and about 13 minutes later the hospital staff was calling the police and sending out footage of the fake nurse captured on their surveillance camera.
“She had the attitude, the uniform, all of it,” the baby’s uncle, Daniel Cossette, told CTV according to CNN.
Pictures of the baby and the kidnapper were posted on Facebook along with a description of the kidnapper’s car which had a sign that said “Baby on Board.”
That post ended up going viral and a group of four 20-somethings spotted the post on Facebook and decided they would help look for the car.
“We just wanted to do something for the night, so we went out to find the car,” Charlène Plante told CTV.
One of the girls eventually realized that she recognized the kidnapper as an old neighbor and drove to the woman’s house.
Once they realized that the woman was home they immediately called the police. The police arrived within just a few minutes to arrest the woman and safely retrieve the baby.
“After the baby was in the hands of the police, it was the best moment in my life,” Bergeron told CTV. “We were crying.”
McMahon said the social media is what saved her daughter and brought her home just hours after she was taken.
“We felt a huge amount of support from the public,” she wrote on social media according to ABC News. “This victory is for you, too!!!”
Thankfully, more and more hospitals are outfitting babies with ankle bracelets that lock the hospital’s doors and alert the hospital staff if the babies are removed from the maternity ward.
Good news is that child abduction from hospitals is a rare occurrence.
There have been 132 infants taken from hospitals in the U.S. between the early 1980s and 2014.
Learn more about this amazing story in the video below.
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