Terrifying Moment at Maine Event Proved the Solidarity of Community

Before I even get into this, two things I'm tossing out there right away:

1) I'm not naming this child, because on the off-chance that someone knows this family, I don't want to bring any negative attention from keyboard warriors.

2) Speaking of keyboard warriors, please do not be nasty in the comments section on this. That's not what this article is about. This article is highlighting how quickly and strongly a community can come together when it's needed -- let's focus on that.

Maine Girls on the Run

Twice a year, the Maine chapter of Girls on the Run holds a celebratory 5K as a capstone to completing the eight-week program that teaches young girls throughout Vacationland how to be strong, how to work together, how they can do hard things, and how to find their inner star power.

The 5K events draws people from all over, not just Maine, but other family members from around New England who want to see their niece or granddaughter compete one of the biggest achievements of their lives up to that point. Which means with the amount of people filling the parking lot of the Brunswick Recreation Center, it can get a bit chaotic, and things can happen at the blink of an eye.

Maine Lost Child

At one point during the event, a Girls on the Run volunteer and a visibly shaken woman approached me at the stage. The volunteer seemed calm but concerned, and the woman seemed completely panicked. And after I was filled in on what the situation was, it all made sense.

This woman's son ran off and we were hoping you could make an announcement to him to come meet his mother at the stage and finish line area. He's sensitive to loud noises and got a bit spooked when he was near the speakers.

And that's where I want to pause for a second, because it's easy for a keyboard warrior to get all high and mighty, hit the "comment" button and type out "WeLl YoU sHoUlD'vE pAiD cLoSeR aTtEnTiOn To HiM." Because while I'm not a parent, basic common sense will tell you that it literally takes just a quick, tenth-of-a-second distraction for something to happen.

READ MORE: Busting the Myth of Filing a Missing Persons Report in Maine, NH

(But, also, for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure I'm a helicopter dog dad, so there's that. But I digress...)

Having listened to enough true crime podcasts to know that this is literally how every "missing child" episode starts off, this wasn't exactly an announcement I was taking lightly, but also didn't want to cause panic, and tried to toe the line between sounding calm and like this was your regular simple announcement, but also drop in undertones that silently screamed, "HEY EVERYONE FIND THIS KID RIGHT NOW BEFORE SOMETHING HORRIBLE HAPPENS!"

And, thankfully, within a minute or two of the announcement, a young boy started walking up the parking lot in the direction of the stage, with an adult man walking in stride with him. The mother made her way to the pair, confirmed that was her son, and like that, all was right with the world.

And, it just goes to show that whether it's in the Brunswick, Maine, community, another Maine area, or even New England in general -- when action needs to be taken to help, we jump right in action to help. Shout to the genuinely good people in this region that not only make it the best in the country, but the world in general a better place.