Anderson Cooper Saves Child In Haiti

[Carlos Baez]

Rating: En Fuego™

Anderson Cooper abandoned his presenting duties to save a child who was attacked by looters during a violent scene in Haiti.

The journalist has been in the Caribbean to cover the citizens’ attempts to rebuild the ravaged country following the massive 7.3 tremor which hit last week Jan 12, ‘10.

But after a fight broke out between local police and looters in one violent scene, Anderson threw down his handheld camera to carry a young boy to safety.

In an entry on his blog, Cooper writes, “We were covering (a) story when we heard shots being fired. We ran toward the sound and found a store being looted. Two Haitian police officers were occasionally firing into the air to try to keep order, but that only worked for a few moments, then the looting would begin again. They (the looters) were stealing boxes of candles... It quickly became a free-for-all. Young men began fighting one another for the stolen items. A number of young men had knives, and planks of wood, screwdrivers and rocks. They were using their improvised weapons to threaten and injure others who had stolen items from the store. The robbers were now being robbed. One group of looters whipped another man with a leather belt. They punched him as well, and they stole the sack of goods he’d just stolen. I was in the midst of the melee... As things got really out of control, I saw a looter on the roof of the store they’d broken into throw what I think was part of a concrete block into the crowd. It hit a small boy in the head. I saw him collapse. More chunks of concrete were being thrown at the looters on the roof. The injured boy couldn't get up. He'd try and then collapse again. Blood was pouring from his head. He was conscious but had no control over his body. I was afraid someone on the roof would see him lying there and throw another cinder block piece onto him. I was afraid he'd get killed. No one seemed to be helping him. I ran to where he was struggling, and picked him up off the ground. I brought him to a spot about a hundred feet away. I could feel his warm blood on my arms. I stood him up, but he was clearly unable to walk. He wiped his bloody face, and I tried to reassure him. He had no idea where he was, and he clearly couldn't walk, so I picked him up again and handed him over to someone behind that makeshift barricade... He was then taken away by someone else. We don't know what happened to him. I hope he's ok.”


Source: www.CyberHollywood.ning.com


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