In order to curb my misanthropic tendencies, I focus on
stories like this one, in which someone’s bad deed is canceled out—or at least vastly
alleviated—but someone else’s good one. In this case, the hero is a 25-year-old
Chicago man
named Brandon Shephard, who came home late one night last week and heard a baby
crying. Looking around, he found a newborn boy in the bushes outside his
apartment complex, wrapped in a plastic bag.
Shephard says his paternal instincts kicked in right away.
Since he didn’t have a cell phone, he immediately picked up the trembling
infant and ran to the nearest fire station, where he kicked in the door and
hollered for help. Firefighters rushed the baby to a hospital, where he was
found to be in critical condition. It’s a good thing Shephard’s caretaker instincts were so well honed: the baby, called Wilson after the street he was
found on, had hypothermia and a cut lip, and likely would not have survived
much longer on his own.
Shephard, Wilson’s
self-described “pseudo-father,” says he continues to feel a connection with the baby.
Shephard, who was adopted at nine months himself, is hopeful that the baby will
be adopted into a loving family.
Photo: Chicago Sun-Times
