Story Archive

Usually One must Go to a Bowling Alley to Meet Someone of this Stature

As Andy Gardner, 23, was getting ready to leave work at a bowling alley in Eau Claire, Wisc., customers suddenly started shouting. He turned to look and saw a toddler walking down a lane, right toward the pin setting equipment. As the child got to the end of the alley he tripped a sensor which activated the pin mechanism, sweeping the boy off his feet and into the equipment. “Everyone was gasping,” a bowler said. “This kid was in really serious trouble.” Gardner ran down the alley and jumped into the equipment, where he hit an emergency stop button to halt the machinery. “He got down there fast,” the witness said. “He didn’t think twice about anything. He just reacted.” Gardner said his own small stature helped him get the boy out. “He was crying and didn’t want to move,” but “it didn’t look like he’d been hurt,” Gardner said. He handed the kid back to his family — but never even learned the boy’s name. “They did say thank you,” he said. (RC/Eau Claire Leader-Telegram) ...They weren’t worried about the boy — they had a spare.