Adorable photo of firefighter with little girl after crash goes viral

Capt. Chris Blazek of the Chattanooga Fire Department in Chattanooga, Tennessee arrived at the scene of a car crash on June 2 to find a pregnant mom and her three children, all of whom seemed pretty shaken up by the wreck. The mother was extremely distressed as she was having abdominal and back pain, and her 4-month-old baby was crying as well.

Blazek did his part to ensure everyone was OK physically and also gave one of the children some old-fashioned tender loving care to calm her down and make her feel safe. The Chattanooga Fire Department shared a sweet photo of Blazek cradling the little girl at the site of the crash, along with his story of what happened, on Facebook this week:

“The children ranged in age from 7 years to 4 months,” Blazek explained in the post. “Both big girls were fine, but the baby was screaming hysterically, too. So I took her out of her car seat and did a quick physical exam to make sure she was OK. She immediately laid her head on my shoulder. Shortly after that I decided that my guys had the scene under control, so I decided to take a break with my new friend. She immediately fell asleep in my arms.”

How sweet! Blazek added that the baby’s mother was transported to the hospital and that other fire department personnel stayed on the scene with the children until they were turned over to family members.

“It’s moments like this, that I am reminded, this is why I do the job,” Blazek wrote.

The department’s post has since gone viral and has been shared about 8,000 times and liked more than 11,000 times! People flooded the comments section with messages of support for Blazek’s service and act of kindness. For his part, Blazek says he was just doing his job.

“My peers do this on a daily basis,” he told Chattanooga’s WRCB-TV. “This was a normal call for us. This is something we would do without thinking. Recognition like this is amazing but we do it knowing that some day there may be no recognition.”

The woman involved in the accident, Whittley Hightower, also later added to the comments, “I really want to say thank you for being there for my three girls. It was such a scary moment for all of us. God bless you.”

Blazek responded in kind, writing, “Mrs. Hightower it was an honor and privilege. Glad to know you and the girls are doing well.”

What an inspiring story! We’re so glad to know that first responders like Blazek are out there helping those in need.