Steve Eckel was heading into a Kohl's department store in in Howell, New Jersey, when he noticed a 4-month-old baby crying inside a car parked in the lot. To his horror, the baby had been inside with the doors locked and the windows rolled up.
It was over 120 degrees inside the car.
But if anyone was supposed to make such a horrifying discovery, it was Steve. Not only is he a retired sheriff's officer, but he also has six kids of his own. Instantly, his quick-thinking and fatherly instincts kicked into high gear.
Dressed in a pink onesie, the helpless infant was sweating and shaking, her eyes rolling back. Her face was beet-red, but she was still alive.
Steve knew he had no time to waste, so he took off running back to his car. He had cleaned out his trunk after working on a project at home, but the one item he happened to leave there was his sledgehammer.
"Things happen for a reason," he told Patch.com.
This story first appeared on LittleThings in June 2017.
Watch the video to see how Steve's actions that day left him being hailed as an absolute hero of epic proportions.
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