By Laura French
MUNSTER, Ind. — An Indiana paramedic has been commended by town officials for going the extra mile to help a toddler who was left alone and locked in a hotel bathroom.
Police officers and a Superior Ambulance crew responded to a request for a welfare check at a hotel in Munster on Dec. 2 and found a 3-year-old boy locked in the bathroom, according to The Times of Northwest Indiana. No one else was in the room, police said, and the boy was taken to the police station while authorities worked to locate family members.
Superior Ambulance Paramedic Matt Mettenburg went out to the store to buy items for the child while he was being cared for at the station. A Munster town official later reached out to commend Mettenburg for his act of compassion.
“A representative from Munster called his GM to say how impressed they are with Matt. We are impressed too!” Superior Ambulance wrote in a Facebook post. “Great job and amazing compassion -- thank you, Matt!!”
The child was later released to a relative, and the case is under investigation by Child Protective Services. A 26-year-old woman faces two counts of neglect in relation to the incident, police said.