THE ADVOCATE (Victoria, Texas) 25 July 08 11-year-old saves baby brother from snake
Brandon Proctor of Victoria is the kind of big brother you want around. On Thursday, the 11-year-old saved his baby brother from an 18-inch grass snake that had crawled into the infant’s playpen.
Brandon’s father, Duane Proctor, said the 7-month-old baby was taking a nap in his playpen in the living room while the rest of the family ate lunch in the dining room. As they were finishing up, Brandon went to check on his brother when he saw a snake crawling over the baby.
“He immediately grabbed the baby and started jumping and hollering,” Proctor said. “My first thought was that it was a piece of string or something and Brandon was overreacting, but sure enough I saw the snake circling around the playpen. It was crazy. The chances of getting a snake in your house are like 99 to 1, and then to have a snake in the baby’s bed is even further out there.”
Proctor added that he caught the snake and threw it over the fence outside, but the real hero of the day was Brandon.
“My wife and I are very proud of him. Honestly, my first thought would be that Brandon would run because of his young age,” he said. “But his first reaction was to get the baby. He did a good job.”
Proctor added that he’s proud to know that if something else happens, he knows Brandon is going to take care of his younger siblings first, which also includes 2-year-old twin sisters and a 4-year-old sister.
11-year-old saves baby brother from snake