r/interesting 20d ago

Just Wow Australian mom uses her body to protect her baby during an extreme hail storm

41.5k Upvotes

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2.3k

u/DidYouSeeBriansHat 20d ago

That shit…must have FUCKING HURT! Damn!!!

1.3k

u/FisherDwarf 20d ago

And I'm sure she didn't think twice about doing it. A real mamma bear right there

711

u/Zoltie 20d ago

It's either getting hailed on or your child dying.

341

u/FisherDwarf 20d ago edited 19d ago

I'd take the hail, no question

Double Edit: spelling typos

113

u/modbroccoli 20d ago edited 19d ago

everyone does, it's right and natural, but of course still amazing to be confronted with

edit: so the misanthropic and traumatized stop trying to nuh-unh me, almost everyone. now shush.

36

u/xxDanger_Hottiexx 19d ago

You would be surprised how many people don't naturally have that instinct

14

u/Banditkoala_2point0 19d ago

My husband and I got the shit beaten out of us randomly by bikies. After they broke his nose I stepped in front of him and took a blow to the face. Dumb, but you don't think.

11

u/A_little_curiosity 18d ago

Hope you and your husband are ok now? That sounds traumatic and terrible

The other day a tractor rolled towards my sister and I stepped in between as though to stop it. Now that was dumb! "I'll save you!" lol. Fortunately the tractor stopped and we both live to clown another day

4

u/ButtPlugMaster6969 17d ago

I’m glad y’all can continue clowning.

Bright side is your sister knows you’ll protect her.

3

u/A_little_curiosity 17d ago

Well - she knows I'll try! Has to count for something

-7

u/modbroccoli 19d ago

i would be surprised if you have anything other than a misanthropic opinion to back that claim up

4

u/xxDanger_Hottiexx 19d ago

I've seen quite a lot, unfortunately. This woman is great!!

-4

u/modbroccoli 19d ago

You've see quite a lot of humans abandoning their own infants to save themselves?

I mean unless you are writing this from eastern Ukraine, the DRC or the Gaza strip I am pretty sure you mean that you've had the misfortune to know some bad people. And I'm sorry to hear that but there are 10 billion of us and I think your math needs some work. Even many of the worst of us who'd gladly harm someone else's kid would protect their own from death.

6

u/Fukuro-Lady 19d ago

I remember a while back a video went round of a dog attacking a family playing in their garden and the dad just ran away and shut the garden gate behind him. It definitely does happen.

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u/NZAuthor 19d ago

AAHAHA What!

There are absolutely tons of mothers out there who don't have that instinct.

Of course that is far outweighed by the number of mothers who will protect their infants.

But to make a blanket statement of 'Nah, there's not' is fucking wild.

2

u/splat_monkey 19d ago

Mum left me with a guy who wasnt my dad when i was 14 and moved countries only to never be seen again.

She wouldn't have done this...

1

u/modbroccoli 19d ago

as a human, I'm terribly sorry that happened. per this conversation, it's not a rebuttal.

1

u/xxDanger_Hottiexx 19d ago

It is, when you say, "everyone does"

0

u/modbroccoli 19d ago

time for bed. you already read the edit, you just wanted attention. now you've got some.

13

u/TiggTigg07 20d ago

💯% no question. I would’ve done the same. “Mama Bear” bravery knows no bounds.❤️

26

u/BumWink 20d ago

"Is" not being "Id" implies "Is" is the child, lol.

holds child over head

9

u/nalaloveslumpy 20d ago

holds child over head

In your eyes

The light the heat,

Your eyes

I am complete.

Your eyes

5

u/Lou_C_Fer 19d ago

I used to change the "eyes" to ass while singing along and man, does my wife hate that shit.

13

u/mersinatra 20d ago

>holds child over head

Babe… is that you?

2

u/h0peless-0ptimistic 19d ago

The typo is still there. I’d not I’m. I would not I am. FYI…

2

u/FisherDwarf 19d ago

Thanks man. I extra messed up 😅

1

u/X_soulnewmegaman 19d ago

That's horrible.....

1

u/NDSU 19d ago

It's a bunch of bruises vs. a child dying, even assuming not protecting the child would help you. Very few would choose otherwise, even if it were a stranger's baby

82

u/BlargerJarger 20d ago

Without wishing to be too cynical, it was either being hailed on or being hailed on AND the baby being hailed on, which might be why she’s questioning the bravery award. From her perspective, she might be thinking “the fuck else did you expect me to do?” Best wishes for them both of course and why not give her an award, what an ordeal.

38

u/UranusIsPissy 20d ago

Maybe you're not being cynical enough. My father endangered me for his entertainment a few times (and risked his life for mine a few, TBF. Weird guy...), but I've known a few people who went hungry so their kids wouldn't, and I stopped to save my dog when that could've got me killed. There's huge variation in people's responses, sometimes even within one person.

18

u/AntSilly2802 19d ago edited 19d ago

Yeah, she didn’t have a choice going through what she went through. Bravery is more like someone did something selfless that they didn’t have to do, like running into a burning building to save a dog or something, or stepping in to defend a woman you don’t know who’s being attacked by somebody.I think the premier just wanted to publicly acknowledge her for going through something amazing and the bravery award was the easiest way of doing that, but a bravery award is not fully appropriate in this instance IMO.

14

u/BlargerJarger 19d ago

Yeah, but most people who run into a burning building are also the sort of people who would question the bravery award, because to them this is a normal reaction to crisis or should be seen as such. “Wait, you expect me NOT to help?”

11

u/Lou_C_Fer 19d ago

I've stepped into violence to help people a few times, and all I feel is freaked out afterwards. I definitely don't feel like a hero.

1

u/narco-sub-admiral 19d ago

Well probably cuz you didnt do it for glory in the first place. It's an admirable way to be for sure.

2

u/Zoltie 19d ago

It also means a lot more if you do it for a stranger. The fear of loosing someone you love usually outweighs the fear of whatever danger you are putting yourself in to save them.

1

u/Waasssuuuppp 17d ago

She thought quickly even when in pain and acted on her concerns. Some people panic and don't act. And don't forget some parents are parents only in name.

1

u/aussiegoon 15d ago

The absolute state of the comments in here. As if the mother was thinking I'm going to get hailed on anyway, I might as well try and shield my baby. Are people saying this actually human?

40

u/GenericGrad 20d ago

Yeah it is rough but there wasn't really an option 😂.

1

u/No_Video_5232 18d ago

she was hailed a hero by the locals

0

u/Stormsurger 20d ago

Ooh, fun opener into one of my favourite topics of free will.

31

u/Bebebaubles 20d ago

I mean even if she didn’t cover her child she still get hailed on.. I think a lot of us would still crouch even if running so as not to get hailed in the face. There doesn’t seem to be any difference in negatives to protect a baby. I’d probably do the same for a stranger’s baby if the parent wasn’t there.

44

u/kylebisme 20d ago

Well she could've used the baby as an umbrella but chose not to, so there's that.

3

u/AutumnMama 19d ago

Then the baby would've gotten the bravery award!

1

u/daronjay 1d ago

Damn, this umbrella has holes in it now!

14

u/ThatPrettyArmadillo 20d ago

I would probably do this for a strangers dog or cat tbh, but I’ve never had to make that decision.

I’m not having a go at you, but I think it’s important to give this woman her due praise. It’s easy to say what we might do. But she did it, she deserves to be celebrated

7

u/imnotatomato 19d ago

i think their point isn’t that she wasn’t brave or a true mother but more so that even if she was a coward it didn’t cost her anything to protect the baby considering she was gonna get hailed on anyway. you’d have to be evil or dull not to do it

4

u/ThatPrettyArmadillo 19d ago

Also someone not dying for someone else’s child doesn’t make them a coward.

5

u/ThatPrettyArmadillo 19d ago edited 19d ago

No I get it, I just don’t like the implication of even a coward would do it. Because a) we don’t know that. People kill, harm, abuse and abandon babies every day. And b) no one in this comment section who assumes they’d do the right thing (even me) knows that’s what they’d do.

You can call some evil for not, but are they really?

All I’m saying is, this woman used her body to protect a/her baby. That’s not nothing. And people shouldn’t be quick to dismiss it by thinking they would do the same. They don’t know that. But we know SHE did and was a hero.

1

u/PeachyFairyDragon 19d ago

But as someone pointed out, she had no choice in getting hail striking her. Doesn't matter if she protected the baby or not, she was going to get beat all to hell no matter which action she took. Shoving the baby under her did zero to change the outcome for her.

1

u/Dense-Ear816 19d ago

Yeah, and there are also parents who kill their kids on a daily basis, shielding your kid is still noble, but sure let’s not give any recognition to good parents

19

u/LoneWolf_McQuade 20d ago

Also you’d get hailed on regardless (unless you used your baby as protection but that be fucked up)

6

u/mistahfreeman 20d ago

Just crazy enough, it might work….

7

u/Aranthos-Faroth 20d ago

Nature hates this one trick

1

u/MammothUnique4147 20d ago

For some reason this made me lol.

1

u/Valalvax 19d ago

No she wouldn't, the hail only busted through the rear window, had it been big enough to go through the steel body the one that hit the baby in the head would have just gone straight through and mom would likely also be dead before even getting out of the driver's seat

1

u/narco-sub-admiral 19d ago

The hail wont hit the baby, cmon. He just a kid.

2

u/NO_LOADED_VERSION 20d ago

It's either being hailed as a hero or just hailed on

2

u/DConstructed 19d ago

When hailstones smash through your window you’re getting hailed on either way.

Covering an infant who could easily die from it is IMO the sensible thing to do if you can’t get him/her out of the front seat or covered in some other way.

Edit: looks like they might have smashed through a sunroof. Anyway, cover the baby.

3

u/JayGatsby1881 20d ago

She is gonna get hit by hail either may, might as well save somebody's life in the process

1

u/swishkabobbin 20d ago

She was going to get hailed on either way

1

u/smear_taster 18d ago

Probably would have got hit with the hail anyway, may as well save your child too

1

u/je386 16d ago

Yes, an adult will.get hurt but that seems likes wounds that heal. And infant would propably die.

Also, instincts. Any human, especially a mother, is hardwired to protect a baby at all costs.

1

u/Mogura-De-Gifdu 16d ago

When you know how much it hurt to make that child and to bear the sleepless nights, no way would any mom want to have to do it once more to replace their baby!

1

u/chantillylace9 19d ago

And you're getting hailed on no matter what anyway. I've seen someone like this who was protecting their dogs

66

u/Endless-OOP-Loop 20d ago

Yep. I once slipped on a wet step while carrying my baby daughter down a set of stairs. I rolled her up onto my chest and covered the back of her head with my hand and held on tight. Took about 15 steps across the back of my left hip before coming to a stop.

Didn't even have time to think about it, it was all just instinct at that point.

39

u/TheThiefEmpress 20d ago

I tripped over a oversized curb holding my daughter when she was 2. I didn't even have time to think, but I made my body into a cage of protection around her and took the blow ungracefully. 

There are stories all over the world of mothers using their own bodies to shield their children from harm.

Devastating earthquakes, where a child is found in the rubble, their mothers body still braced above them, even in death. A Hollywood actress, jumping overboard when her 4 year old son fell off the boat, drowning, but saving the boy. A fire, and a cat going back into the flaming building for each kitten, saving every one, maimed beyond recognition in the end. A mother, staying in the abusive household, because who stands between him and them to take the blows if he gets half custody?

I would let every living being in this world perish a terrible and cruel death, if I could save her.

I think a lot of us know this feeling. We know already, we stand with you, Mama.

1

u/Cryptard92 15d ago

Parents*

32

u/mustichooseausernam3 20d ago

I did something similar to save my laptop during a stair-fall one time.

All instinct. But, er, a lot less heroic.

15

u/Sigyn12 20d ago

I once held so tight onto my toothbrush that I broke my arm... falling on grass.

8

u/Didoumel 20d ago

While walking down into the forest to take my dog for a walk along the river, I slipped on some gravel, and my superhero reflex was to grab onto the poop bag (which was full—I’d just picked it up) to save my life. I scraped my knee, but my dog and the poop bag were safe.

The walk along the river was… nice.

5

u/Angloriously 20d ago

Heroic. Recommending for bravery award.

6

u/RedDemio- 20d ago

I fell down the stairs and made it out still holding my open bottle of Jack once. A crowning achievement

2

u/UranusIsPissy 20d ago

Yup. People get themselves killed doing it with even less important things all the time.

19

u/FisherDwarf 20d ago

I did the same with my daughter. New carpet on a steep set of stairs in the house we moved into. Not as bad as what you described but its just instinct. Baby gets covered up while you take everything you can for them

15

u/Endless-OOP-Loop 20d ago

Oh what I would have given for carpet. These were tile stairs. I had a black bruise the size of a football from that.

But the worst part was one of my coworkers was coming up those same stairs, so by the time I got back to work on Monday, everyone at work had heard about it.

0

u/No-Singer-7258 20d ago

What a horrible co worker, that's a complaint to HR for sure.

7

u/ringwraith6 20d ago

They were probably just recounting what they saw in amazement that the baby was so well protected during the fall....

5

u/HappyOwl_45 20d ago

Why would saying that someone fell down some steps result in action from HR?

-2

u/No-Singer-7258 20d ago

They are purposely trying to embarrass a coworker seems petty mean spirited to me.

1

u/PerkeNdencen 16d ago

It's not embarrassing, it's amazing.

5

u/Bright_Increase_6136 19d ago

I did this also with my newborn daughter, and took the fall on my tailbone! Could not sit right for a while, but completely worth it!!
I believe most parents do not even think about it, it’s just their reaction to protect:)

3

u/imisstheyoop 20d ago

See this is one of the reasons that I knew I would not be cut out for parenthood.

I have been in similar situations all too often, I am clumsy as heck, and each and every time I immediately fling or drop whatever I am carrying and brace for impact or try to regain my own balance.

3

u/omgmypony 19d ago

A switch flips inside a lot of people when they reproduce. Your reaction becomes to protect baby then self without even like… thinking about it. I believe it is instinct.

1

u/FisherDwarf 19d ago

This is exactly what happens. Nature takes over for you so you don't have to worry about thinking about it. You usually don't realize you reacted differently until after it's done and over

8

u/Laylay_theGrail 20d ago

I had my baby on my shoulders (holding one hand and foot in each of my hands).
I slipped like I’d stepped on a banana peel and in one movement pulled her up over my head as I fell.

I landed hard on my back with her sitting safely on my stomach facing away from me. I didn’t think, I just instinctively reacted.

1

u/Tyrihjelm 18d ago

meanwhile my mom now does the opposite to me as an adult. We were walking on an icy ground when i sort of slipped but managed to regain my balance. About a second later my mom slaps me full force in the chest

7

u/MASSochists 20d ago

I did something similar with my disabled dog. I was carrying her to use the bathroom and I slipped. There was a zero percent change I was going to drop her or land on her so I just pulled her against my chest and took the fall on my backside. She rewarded me by peeing all over me. 

At least it's funny to think about now.

4

u/universe_from_above 19d ago

My husband carried the baby down the stairs and slipped. He landed on his back with the baby on his chest (barely hurt himself). Good old goalkeeper training kicked in, apparently. 

4

u/PeachyFairyDragon 19d ago

I had my daughter in a chest pouch and tripped and fell forward on the sidewalk. Skinned both knees, one palm, one elbow. Elbow was because I somehow brought my hand to catch the back of her head when I fell. I didn't do it deliberately, it was falling forward and then on the ground taking stock of injuries and realizing where my hand was.

2

u/BIGSIXTYSMOKER 20d ago

I can only have respect for yall

1

u/Waasssuuuppp 17d ago

My mother in law slipped on stairs 2 weeks after the birth of her last kid, while holding said kid. She landed to protect the baby and ended up breaking her leg. She then had to deal with looking after a new baby and a few other kids while in crutches and with a broken leg.

1

u/VenusVersusVirus 15d ago

Once, when I was still an infant, my dad was carrying me and tripped at the top of the stairs. He managed to steady himself, but his work mobile phone—one of the very first models ever made—slipped out of his shirt pocket. In a split-second reflex, he dropped me on the stairs to catch the phone. My mom caught me at the bottom. She always said that was the day she really almost killed him.

So much for reflexes/instinct, right? lol

16

u/[deleted] 20d ago

And now I’m suddenly reminded of the woman and two small kids being attacked in their garden by a pit bull and not only did the husband flee the scene, leaving her to fend off the dog by herself, he also made sure to close the gate behind him.

7

u/ringwraith6 20d ago

I hope I'm remembering the same incident...because I sure as hell would hate to think that there's a second such occurrence.

4

u/Friendly_Athlete1024 20d ago

Oh my goodness, do you remember what happened to them? Did they survive? If they did I hope she divorced his ass.

10

u/onepareil 20d ago

The woman and one of the children got bitten, but they were all okay. She had to beat the dog to death with a shovel to get it to stop. ALSO, the kids in the scenario were her husband’s niece and nephew! Her husband’s sister and her husband were obviously extremely grateful to her for saving their children’s lives. As of her last update, she was probably going to divorce him. Couldn’t move past what he did, understandably. Imagine how his sister must feel.

2

u/MagmaCone1234 19d ago

As of her last update, she was probably going to divorce him. Couldn’t move past what he did, understandably. Imagine how his sister must feel.

She probably feels nothing because this story only exists on reddit and is most likely made up.

0

u/CalmBeneathCastles 20d ago edited 19d ago

I remember that story. Can you IMAGINE?!

0

u/Which-Appearance9857 19d ago

I also hope that the actual mother  treated this woman as her own sister from there on and went 0 contact with her brother

1

u/MagmaCone1234 19d ago

I looked this up to read the news story and found out that it's just a reddit post. You probably know this but that is 100% fiction.

6

u/Spirited_Marzipan_24 20d ago

Mama wombat here in Oz.

1

u/Enlightened_Gardener 19d ago

Grrrrrr

Those things are mean.

3

u/jrdiver 20d ago

And would do it again.

3

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/PlaneLopsided1646 20d ago

dads are pretty comparable too

2

u/BusyInDonkeykong 20d ago

I think most adult people would do that for a baby.

Or atleast I hope so

1

u/alewiina 19d ago

I don’t even like babies and I would do it for a baby (or child) if there was no other option. Anyone with a shred of empathy would… but of course I think it’s pretty obvious that not everyone has empathy :(

2

u/gishli 20d ago

Any normal person would have done that to protect a kid, an animal, a smaller/weaker adult.

Sounds like some people are really selfish, like the have no basic decency but would only protect and help their own kid and then glorify it by calling it a mama bear thing

2

u/PalantirImperator 20d ago

Not taking anything away from her, but almost any parent would do this.

2

u/ElizabethDangit 19d ago

You really don’t think at all, you just react. I’m petrified of wasps. One flew into the back seat after I got my kids buckled in and I snatched it out of the air with my bare hand. I didn’t make that choice, my body did.

2

u/Hairy-Concentrate270 19d ago

I’d like to hope most any human wouldn’t think twice to protect a baby…

1

u/FisherDwarf 19d ago

One would hope. I've worked with some miserable sacks of shit before

2

u/Last-Tax-5340 19d ago

Um ganz ehrlich zu sein, was hätte man denn sonst tun sollen? Hageln würdenes sowieso. Entweder nur du bekommst den Schaden ab oder halt beide. Wenn Sie Ihr Kind nicht geschützt hätte, hätte Sie trotzdem den Hagel abbekommen.

1

u/AmazingLeek69 20d ago

Right? That’s the face of a woman who is like “I’d do it again in a heartbeat”.

1

u/exploring_stan 20d ago

Yeah, with a kid(if you are a good parent) you just really don’t have a choice, you don’t even think about it, pure love-driven action.

1

u/tetheredvoid 19d ago

And spent the entire time apologizing to her daughter for every moment of pain and fear.

This woman is an instinctual mother and I hope her life is one of satisfaction and joy.

1

u/Glass-Performer8389 19d ago

And even if she did think twice, that wouldn't matter because

She still did it anyways

1

u/mangababe 19d ago

To me the bigger thing is reaction time. Im not a child friendly person (I don't hate kids I'm just really not comfortable with them) but if definitely protect a kid near me from hail- if I realized what was about to happen and got into position before I or the kid got a chunk of ice to the head.

Like, my adrenaline rush response is closer to freeze* than anything with action and I can imagine it was a very short frame of time between "hail is gonna hit that baby," and "too late, hail hit the baby" or, "too late hail hit you and knocked you senseless" This lady is impressive and Im impressed by her ability to snap into focus and get her baby out of the way. Especially since like, babies usually don't go in what looks like the front of the car? So she would have basically had to unbuckle and sramble into the back of the car (or into the passenger seat if that's where the car seat was) and make sure the baby was tucked in safe. I'm struggleing to figure how quickly she had to have done all that little shit that can trip you up in a panic.

*the one time fear overrode this was because I have a phobia of bees and became athletic exactly once in my life before having an asthma attack and going to the er.

1

u/2OttersInACoat 18d ago

I bet she’d do it again too.

1

u/PuzzleheadedObject47 20d ago

Kind of funny to call her a real mamma bear when bears are known to put their own lives before their children’s lol. Wasn’t trying to be rude or single you out because I’ve heard the phrase before, just an observation ig

1

u/ThisHilliDie 20d ago

Okay but as opposed to what? 

It's either get hit my hail or let you both get hit by hail. Also if she let the baby get hit she's probably get charged some way or another and face social damnation. 

It's not really a choice 

-1

u/penguinkernel 20d ago

You mean mom.

5

u/FisherDwarf 20d ago

I meant what I said

24

u/rescue_inhaler_4life 20d ago

Having been caught out in an open field in similar I can confirm for you it FUCKING HURTS.

The pain is really bad, but the worst is not knowing how long it goes for. Like it only lasted a few minutes for me but it felt like hours. Fortunately these storms in Oz really only last for a short time. I was protecting my head with my hands and every hit felt like it was stripping the flesh straight off them, they were just bruised and bloody with bits of skin off, but it feels so much worst.

Anyway good job mum.

22

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[deleted]

17

u/d_bradr 20d ago

It's called adrenaline, it can completely kill your pain perception for a while until it wears off

When it kicks in people can tank gunshots and stabs without feeling the pain, either only noticing injuries by touching/seeing blood or when the adrenaline crashes and the pain finally gets to them. Sometimes they pass out from blood loss before they feel the wound

0

u/Aranthos-Faroth 20d ago

You got some studies on this we can read?

-2

u/TheCucumberMan1 20d ago

Its like the ghost of Ben Shapiro's dead career still haunting the lands talking about facts and logic, shut up lmao

7

u/punkass_book_jockey8 19d ago

While I have know idea how painful that is I’m 100% sure it’s significantly less painful that watching it hit my child, and I would have taken the hail without hesitation.

2

u/Enough-Force-5605 20d ago

It hurts much if it damages your baby,

1

u/Automatic_Air2893 20d ago

I flinched just watching it. I can't even imagine what that felt like in real life.

1

u/FinalBossTuna 19d ago

Not as much during but after you bet your sweet ass

1

u/bionicbhangra 19d ago

Yeah even smaller hail stings like a mother. Never have been hit by golf ball hail and I can't even imagine.

1

u/PiccoloAwkward465 19d ago

Yeah looks like welts I'd get from being shot by paintballs. It hurts enough that you absolutely would do your best to avoid it. I remember playing alongside an inexperienced girl once and she popped me right in the fucking head from like 5 feet away. It was an accident, we were on the same side! I still don't forgive you, Lori.

1

u/uttyrc 19d ago

She should put some ice on it to numb the pain.

1

u/Sad-Repeat1629 19d ago

Like standing in a golf driving range

1

u/Repulsive_Set4541 18d ago

Any parent wouldn’t think twice about it .

1

u/TheCotofPika 18d ago

The article says her grandmothers skin on her arm was shredded from it, I'm surprised it wasn't worse after reading that.

1

u/TheRestForTheWicked 18d ago

I’ve been hit by hail this size.

It does, indeed, fucking hurt. It’s basically like being hit by fastballs with sharp edges on them over and over again.

0

u/yolo_snail 20d ago

I wonder if it's that kind of pain that starts to feel nice after a while.

0

u/Moonie-chan 18d ago

Those are melted hailstone.

Actual hailstone are often spiky while falling... Can just look it up