Hayli and Ophelia Hu Kinney live in Scarborough and were headed north for a family event Wednesday afternoon.
The two were driving through Chelsea and when they went down Windsor Road, they said they saw a woman attempting to perform CPR on a child on the front lawn of a home. They noticed cars parked along the street and people gathered nearby.
“We got out of the car and walked towards them, and the woman yelled 'Do you know CPR?' And we said yes. We fortunately took a CPR refresher course before our own kiddo was born.”
Hayli said she then began performing CPR and Ophelia provided backup and helped support the woman, who told them that she was the foster mother of the child. The Hu Kinneys said the woman was with them the whole time, hoping the child would make it.
“[It was] really sad and hard to witness. But, in retrospect, I think we’re both grateful that we were there to provide support," Hayli said Friday.
Even when first responders arrived on the scene, Hayli said they let her continue performing CPR until they took the child to the hospital in an ambulance.
Police said the child was hit by a tow truck when she "wandered into the roadway" after she was playing outside the home Wednesday afternoon. The driver told officials he did not realize there was a child in the road. The toddler was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Hayli and Ophelia are parents themselves and said this accident could have happened to anybody.
“Someone once told me, when you become a parent, the whole world’s children become you’re children. And I think I speak for both of us when I say that we’ve found that to be true," Ophelia said.
NEWS CENTER Maine reached out to the Maine Department of Health and Human Services to confirm if the woman the Hu Kinneys spoke with was the foster mother of the child. A spokesperson for the Department provided a statement:
"The Department is prohibited by state and federal confidentiality laws from commenting on child protective matters in most instances, subject to very limited statutory exceptions. We are unable to provide further comment at this time."
The Hu Kinneys said they left their contact information with the police in case the family wanted to reach out for support and to let them know that they weren't alone.
The two also said if you ever find yourself in a similar situation that you should do your best to help people and get a sense of what they need and offer to do it.
“They’re our fellow Mainers, and I think we kind of have a responsibility to each other to recognize each other’s humanity to know, no person is disposable," Ophelia said.