Mobile mother hopes to spread awareness on Project Lifesaver
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG) — Sabrina Paige-Hackett is extremely thankful that her 5-year-old son, Julian, was returned safely to her home after he wandered off in the street earlier this month.
Paige-Hackett said her son was at his grandmother’s house, and her world stopped once she got a frightening phone call learning that he went missing.
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“I was at home; I was actually in the middle of cooking,” Paige-Hackett said. “And my mom called me. She told me that they can’t find Julian, and her front door was wide open. So my heart stopped. I just remember I just remember kept saying, ‘Oh, my God. Oh, my God.’ I ran up the house. I told my husband to come on.'”
Her son, Julian, is nonverbal and has autism. Paige-Hackett said his condition makes him wander off, but this was the first time he made it out of the house.
“He was trying to walk out of my mom’s subdivision and onto a busy highway,” she explained. “And she said that the truck in front of her barely missed him, and she said when she saw that, she looked around and found nobody was out there and he was walking around with no shoes, of course, he was at my mom’s house comfortable. And she said she just picked them up, put them in her car, went home, and called the police.”
Ever since that day, she’s been in contact with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office and learned about Project Lifesaver.
The project is designed to help find those with special needs by wearing a device that law enforcement can track the person’s location.
Julian wears a tracking device around his ankle, so sheriff’s deputies can locate him if he ever goes missing.
Paige-Hackett went onto Facebook to share Julian’s story and how significant the program is for those who have special needs. She explained that once she explained to people how the program worked, many people she spoke with said they weren’t familiar with it, so now, she hopes Project Lifesaver can help save other lives.
“It’s better to have the device and not need to need it,” Paige-Hackett said. “It might save your child’s life. It’s a good thing to have is absolutely free waterproof. And I think it’s a wonderful lifesaving device.”
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