Dad Arrested After Rushing Choking Daughter to Hospital, Nurses Bond Him Out
If your child is in danger, how far are you willing to go to save them? Most parents would do whatever it took to ensure the safety of their loved ones, even if that means breaking some laws along the way.
On Thursday, April 4, Darius Hinkle of Centreville, Illinois, made that decision. In the decision between following the speed limit or getting his baby to the hospital in time, he obviously chose his baby.
Hinkle’s 1-year-old had managed to get a penny in her mouth and was choking. Knowing time was of the essence, Hinkle and the girl’s mother, Donecia Pittman, jumped into the car and sped to the hospital.
“First thing in my mind was, get her to the hospital,” Hinkle told KTVI. “That’s my daughter. I won’t let nothing happen to her.”
He hit speeds of over 100 mph, and it wasn’t long before cops were on his tail. Unwilling to slow down and risk his daughter’s life, Hinkle was now caught between saving his baby and being involved in what the tailing cops considered a high-speed chase.
As soon as they reached Touchette Regional Hospital, the cops told them to get out and put their hands up. They complied, but Pittman repeatedly yelled at them, telling them their daughter was choking.
“They told us to get out and put our hands up, and I got out and I put my hands up and I yelled and I told the police ‘my baby is choking,'” Pittman explained.
“And I told them multiple times that she was choking. They was just worried about the fact that we were speeding.”
Hinkle, admittedly, also did not have a drivers license, and he was taken to jail. Thankfully they had gotten to the hospital in time, and their baby was saved.
Seeing the plight the family was in, and feeling for them, the nurses did more than just save the child. They knew the father had only been speeding out of love for his baby girl, so they decided to post his bond.
Pittman was surprised when she got to the jail to see about getting him out and realized someone had beaten her to it.
“Somebody was up there and they said ‘I’m here to bond out Darius Hinkle,'” Pittman said, “and I was looking like — I didn’t know who it was, and when I looked out the door to see who it was, she spoke and said I’m the nurse from Touchette Hospital.”
“I couldn’t thank them enough like they was there for us ever since we had got there.”
Now the three are safe and back together again where they belong, thanks to some generous nurses who not only saved a life but kept a family together.
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