UPS Driver Barely Saw Boy Sticking Out of Leaves and Had to Share

“A UPS driver hoping to draw awareness about distracted driving and pedestrian safety snapped a now-viral photo of a young boy hiding under a pile of leaves near the side of a road while on his delivery route,” Fox News reports.

Part of being a kid means making bad decisions. It’s a natural part of growing up and an important ingredient in the learning process of becoming a young adult.

That is, so long as those decisions aren’t deadly.

“Driver Jordan Weaver was in Elkhart (Indiana), a town about 150 miles north of Indianapolis, on Nov. 5 when he spotted the barely visible boy hiding in a leaf pile inches from the road, he told South Bend news station WSBT-TV. He first walked across the street to give a parcel to a woman who turned out to be the boy’s mother.”

“I couldn’t believe it at first — my heart completely stopped,” Weaver said. “Luckily, I parked across the street from the stop, so I didn’t see the child until after I made the delivery. I immediately grabbed my phone and went and asked the mother if I could take a picture.”

“He could have died”

Weaver wanted to use this experience to teach everyone about safety.

“He could have died,” said one commenter on social media after Weaver shared the photo. “I said ‘Oh my goodness, I have to be even more careful in paying attention to our kids.’”

“You really have to keep your eyes open,” Weaver said. “No matter what street you’re on, no matter where you’re at, just have to keep your eyes open. You have to pay attention to everything around you constantly.”

We should all let this serve as a reminder that we have to be so careful while we’re driving. Since it’s something we do every day, it’s easy to slide into bad habits. But one moment could change a life forever.