Salem 8th-Grader Hailed As 'Hero' For Rescuing Toddler In Distress

SALEM, MA — A Salem eighth-grader is being honored as a hero after she spotted a toddler on her own in the freezing cold on a city street last week and helped make sure the young girl was taken to a safe and warm place.

Gabby Cysne, who attends Collins Middle School, told the school that while on her way to school on Feb. 1 she saw the girl, who she estimated to be 2 or 3 years old, outdoors in a white tank top and a diaper in the 20-degree cold.

"She was shivering," Cysne told the school. "I never felt so bad in my life."

Cysne told the school that she took the little girl to Hawthorne Commons on Highland Avenue, which was the nearest open business she saw, where she was greeted by an employee who called the police to get the toddler the care she needed.

"I was just so moved when I received this letter," Salem Superintendent of Schools Steve Zrike told the School Committee during its Monday night meeting, "and I asked to meet the young lady, who is with us here tonight, who went out of her way to help a lost child who was in some type of danger and did the right thing, stopped what she was doing, and made sure the little girl got in the right hands so she could be reunited with her parents."

Zrike presented Cysne with a red Salem Public Schools sweatshirt and a school district proclamation for "her brave and selfless actions in assisting a young child found alone on a busy street."

Salem Acting Mayor and School Committee Chair Robert McCarthy gave Cysne a proclamation from the city thanking her "for her keen observation and her sense of compassion."

State Rep. and School Committee Vice-Chair Manny Cruz presented her with a State House of Representatives certificate saying: "The entire membership, all 160 members, extends its very best wishes and expresses the hope of good fortune and continued success in all of your endeavors."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)