Georgia State Patrol trooper Walt Landrum was doing yardwork Saturday when he received a call from a woman telling him a baby was by itself in the middle of Hwy. 84 near Climax.

Landrum wasn’t on duty, but knew he needed to respond to the call. GSP trooper Brian Palmer received the same call from the woman and headed out to the intersection of highways 84 and 262.

When Landrum and Palmer got to the scene, the woman who called them had the 2-year-old baby safe. He was wearing nothing but a diaper and was warm from standing on the asphalt in the hot sun.

Landrum stepped out of the car, and the baby turned and reached for him. Landrum picked him up and took him to his patrol car, where the air conditioning could cool him down.

“He was walking around, wouldn’t talk, wouldn’t say nothing,” Landrum said. “He kept nodding off. I told him he could go to sleep, and he laid his head on my chest and slept an hour and half.”

Landrum took the hat he was wearing and held it up to block the sun from shining on the child’s face while he slept.

The Decatur County Sheriff’s Office arrived on the scene and helped search for where the baby came from. Deputy Pat Trollinger passed a house a half mile away where a young boy was searching the yard. When asked if he was looking for a baby, the boy said yes.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Safety, the wandering baby was left at home with several other children while their parents went to work. The Division of Family and Children Services is looking into the case.

“It’s just what we do,” Landrum said. “I’ve been doing it my whole life. You do what you got to do to help. Especially when there are children involved.”

Landrum said the real hero was the woman who stopped to get the baby off the road and contact Landrum and Palmer. She wishes to remain anonymous.