Waitress Thanks God After Saving Abused Boy
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
(Worthy News) – A waitress in the U.S. city of Orlando is “thanking God” after saving the life of an 11-year-old boy tied up and tortured by his evil parents.
Flavaine Carvalho told police that she knew something was wrong when the boy was sitting at one of her tables. He was forbidden from ordering anything to eat.
His mum Kristen Swann, 31, and Timothy Wilson, the boy’s 34-year-old stepfather, told the waitress that he would eat dinner at home instead.
It was then that the Orlando waitress saw bruises and a large scratch on the skinny child’s face, she recalled. “I could see a big scratch between his eyebrows. A couple of minutes later, I saw a bruise on the side of his eye,” Carvalho told Fox News network. “So I felt there was something really wrong.”
Carvalho concocted a plan. She wrote, “Do you need help?” on a piece of paper and held it up to the boy from where his parents couldn’t see from their booth at Mrs. Potato Restaurant. She explained to the police it took three tries before the boy signaled “yes.”
Carvalho called the police. Now she’s being credited as helping to save the boy from possible death.
HOMICIDE POSSIBLE
“This could have been a homicide situation if she had not intervened,” Orlando Police Chief Orlando Rolon explained to WFTV television.
Cops discovered he had been tied up, starved, and beaten by the sadistic pair.
“He said ratchet straps were tied around his ankles and neck, and he was hung upside down from a door,” Orlando police said.
“He said he was hit with a wooden broom and handcuffed and tied to a large moving dolly. He also said he didn’t get to eat on a regular basis as punishment.”
Wilson was charged with “child abuse” and Swann with “neglect,” as she allegedly knew about her partner’s reign of terror on her son but failed to intervene or get medical care for him. The boy and his four-year-old sister, who was apparently not yet abused, were taken from the house by child services, officials said.
“I’m a mother also, and that was very strange to me because you don’t deny food to a kid, especially at a restaurant,” Carvalho said at a press conference Thursday. “Thank God the boy is safe now.”
CLAIMING MIRACLES
The restaurant owner, Rafaela Cabede, said she credits what took place to a higher power.
She told the media that Carvalho wasn’t scheduled to be working the night she spotted the child. Carvalho was only there because another employee called out. And the family was sitting at the only table in the restaurant where Carvalho could hold the sign up to the boy without the rest of his family seeing.
They were reportedly also the last table of the night, allowing Carvalho to pay more attention to the family.
“We understand that this has to encourage other people that when you see something, say something,” Cabede added. “We know when we see a situation that is wrong, we know what’s the right thing to do. We know that speaking up is the right thing to do. But it takes more than acknowledging it. It takes courage.”
Rolon agrees. “The lesson here for all of us is to recognize when we see something that isn’t right to act on it… This saved the life of a child.”
If you are interested in articles produced by Worthy News, please check out our FREE sydication service available to churches or online Christian ministries. To find out more, visit Worthy Plugins.