Early Saturday morning, Chicago witnessed one of those moments that stops you in your tracks — a situation that could have ended in tragedy, but thankfully didn’t.
Just after 1:30 a.m. on October 18, a woman identified only as Maya was found passed out behind the wheel of her car on Lake Shore Drive near Roosevelt Road. Her three-year-old daughter was locked inside the vehicle, as cars sped dangerously close to the stopped car in the middle of the road.
The scene, captured on Facebook Live by Raven Foster, showed bystanders pounding on the windows, pleading with the woman to wake up and unlock the doors. “You’re in the middle of Lake Shore Drive with your baby!” one person yelled, as others frantically tried to figure out what to do.
After several tense minutes, the child managed to unlock the door herself, allowing witnesses to pull her to safety. She was alert, talking — and visibly shaken. In a heartbreaking moment caught on camera, the little girl told bystanders,
“I don’t want to stay with my mama no more. I want to stay with you.”
Witnesses described the driver as disoriented and possibly intoxicated, repeatedly nodding off as people tried to keep her awake until police arrived. When officers finally got to the scene, they placed Maya in a squad car, while witnesses stayed behind to comfort the child and give statements.
The bystanders who stopped said they initially thought the woman was dead until they saw movement from inside the car. “Something bigger than her was watching over that baby,” one person said in the livestream. “Thank God the baby woke up.”
The video has since gone viral, sparking outrage and conversation across Chicago — not just about parental negligence, but also about what it means for everyday people to step up when danger unfolds in real time.
Raven Foster, who filmed the video, later posted,
“Glad the baby is good and so is she… All that could have been WAY WORSE. That baby safe, that’s all that matter.”
While the details of the police investigation haven’t been released, this moment has left many in the city shaken — and reminded us just how fragile life can be when split-second decisions and community care make all the difference.
