The shocking moment a toddler in a diaper entered the path of oncoming traffic at a busy intersection in Arizona was caught on camera.
Terrifying dashcam footage showed the youngster stumbling onto the highway near 96th Street and University Drive in Mesa before dawn Friday.
A woman filming burst into tears as the young child walked into the road and an SUV swerved to narrowly avoid them.
“If you watch the video, I become completely hysterical because I feel hopeless,” the female driver said Arizona family.
“I felt like I was mentally preparing myself to see a child being crushed,” she added.
A small toddler wearing only a diaper was filmed walking into oncoming traffic at a busy intersection in Arizona
A shocked woman in a nearby car screamed as terrifying vehicles approached the young child
The motorist said her seven-year-old son was in the backseat at the time, so she couldn’t leave her car in the middle of the road to jump out and help.
She could only watch helplessly and honk at the little boy, hoping to scare him back onto the sidewalk.
The video shows her screaming and honking before the toddler looks her way and pauses, as cars suddenly swerve and miss him by just inches.
As the toddler narrowly avoids death, a female pedestrian is seen running after him before picking him up and carrying him to the sidewalk.
It is unclear whether the pedestrian is a bystander or the child’s mother.
“I feel overwhelmed, but I’m just glad the kind woman was willing to sacrifice her life to get out on the road and grab him,” the motorist who filmed the ordeal told Arizona Family.
The newspaper also spoke to the boy’s father, who said he was not home at the time of the incident.
He said his wife had been caring for their children — the two-year-old toddler and the nine-month-old son — that day but left the house briefly.
The stunned father said he only knew they were leaving the house when he got a Ring camera notification showing a woman carrying his son.
The woman filming breaks down crying as the young child runs into the road and an SUV swerves to narrowly avoid them
He added that his wife suffered from postpartum depression and forgot to lock the door.
“We don’t understand the full extent of her struggles, but as a community we must show mercy and approach her situation with compassion, yet hold her fully accountable,” said the woman who captured the incident on her dashcam.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office said they are considering filing a endangerment report. The investigation is ongoing.