Toddler wearing only diaper rescued by DoorDash delivery driver on Detroit’s 8 Mile Road

DoorDash delivery driver rescues shivering toddler with purple lips who was wandering alone on Detroit’s 8 Mile Road wearing only a diaper and socks in windy 38-degree weather

  • DoorDash driver Robert Jackson III was making a delivery around 11 a.m. on Sunday when he spotted the child on 8 Mile Road, Detroit  
  • The 2-year-old child, whose lips and fingers were purple, was wearing only a diaper and socks 
  • Temperatures were around 38 degrees, but felt colder because of the wind chill 
  •  The child was too young to know where he lived and was unable to give the driver any information
  • Police were able to determined that the child had walked out of the house while a 16-year-old sibling was baby-sitting 
  •  Police say they aren’t sure how long the child had been wandering around outside, but he was taken to the Children’s Hospital to be checked out
  • Police told DailyMail.com that no charges will be filed over the incident  


A shivering toddler found wandering alone on Detroit’s 8 Mile Road wearing only a diaper and socks, as temperatures plunged to 38 degrees, was rescued by a DoorDash delivery driver over the weekend.

Robert Jackson III told Fox2Detroit he was making a delivery around 11am on Sunday when he spotted the child on 8 Mile Road, half a block from John R. Street. 

‘He was standing in the middle of 8 Mile like this,’ Jackson said. ‘He was shaking, his hands and his lips were purple and his fingers were purple.’   

Jackson said he immediately stopped his vehicle, scooped the shivering child up, wrapped his coat around him and placed him in the car to warm up.  

The temperature outside at the time was 38 degrees, with a wind chill of 29.

A toddler (pictured) wandering alone on Detroit’s 8 Mile Road wearing only a diaper and socks was rescued by a DoorDash delivery driver over the weekend as temperatures hovered around 38 degrees.

Jackson was out on a delivery when he spotted the child on 8 Mile Road. He immediately stopped, wrapped the child up in his coat and placed him in the car to warm up.

Jackson was out on a delivery when he spotted the child on 8 Mile Road. He immediately stopped, wrapped the child up in his coat and placed him in the car to warm up.

Jackson flagged down another driver to call the police, and then stayed and comforted the two-year-old until they arrived. 

After warming up, the child appeared to be in good spirits, Jackson said. 

The child was too young to know where he lived and was unable to give the driver any information. 

‘A baby – yeah man I know. You can’t ask him who is mommy is,’ said Jackson who has more than a dozen of grandchildren of his own. ‘He can’t talk. Look, he has no shoes.’  

Detroit police arrived a short time later and were able to identify the child as a 2-year-old who lived less than a block away from where he was found.   

A spokesperson for the Detroit Police told DailyMail.com that the child’s mother had gone to the store that morning and left a 16-year-old sibling in charge of watching the child at their home nearby. 

Jackson said the child was shaking, 'his hands and his lips were purple and his fingers were purple'

Jackson said the child was shaking, ‘his hands and his lips were purple and his fingers were purple’

Jackson III spotted the child on 8 Mile Road, half a block from John R. Street

Jackson III spotted the child on 8 Mile Road, half a block from John R. Street

Police say they aren’t sure how long the child had been wandering around outside, but he was taken to the Children’s Hospital to be checked out.

Police are investigating the incident, but tell DailyMail.com that it appears the child simply walked out of the house unnoticed and no charges are expected to be filed. 

Jackson told the news outlets that he was happy that he was there to help the child.   

‘It feels good that I was there – I don’t know how to explain it,’ he said.