Homeless Hero Who Saved Baby in Runaway Stroller Lands Jobs at Applebee's: "He's a Great Guy"

Heroes can be created overnight. Ron Nessman, who spent eight years of his life homeless, saved the life of a baby this week, after recently turning his life around. The former truck driver's harrowing account of what happened and how his life recently changed is warming the hearts of people all across the country and is an excellent reminder of how one person can make such a big difference in this world. Read on to discover Nessman's difficult past, how he managed to overcome it, saved a baby's life, and what happened to him afterward.

Nessman said he was sitting on a bench outside a nearby carwash after a job interview at Applebee's. He saw a woman in her sixties fall down repeatedly as she attempted to catch a stroller that was rolling away. 

"She sees the child going into the street, and that's all she sees," Nessman told CBS Los Angeles, adding that the stroller was about to roll into speeding traffic due to strong gusts of wind. "She can't do nothing."

He rushed off the bench and grabbed the stroller, just before it was about to roll into traffic. "I seen her and I felt so bad for the lady," said Nessman. "I got nephews and nieces and I couldn't imagine something like that."

"I heard screaming to the right," Donna Gunderson, an onlooker, told NBCLA. "And I look back and I see a stroller going down the driveway and my heart dropped," she said.

Nessman told CBS that until recently, he was homeless and battled with depression for many years. "My girlfriend passed away in 2018," he said. "It was sudden, and I didn't want to do anything." He ended up living with his sister sleeping on her couch until recently. 

However, he has turned his life around and is determined to continue. "I decided to get right. If you want something different in your life, you do something different, and that's where I am at today. I thank my sister for helping me out. She's always been there for me," he told NBCLA. Nessman was hoping that an employer will see his story and give him a job opportunity. 

After landing a job interview at Applebee's in Victorville, California, he spotted a stroller rolling into traffic and managed to save the baby's life. After being hailed a hero, the former homeless man is now employed. The restaurant offered him a job, and he started work this week.

The video of Nessman saving the baby quickly went viral, with over 66 million views, but Applebee's General Manager, Emily Canady, told NBCLA his heroic actions didn't have to do with their decision to hire him. "He's a great guy and he was a great candidate, and he'll definitely fit with us here in Team Victorville at Applebee's," Canady said.

Nessman is glad his actions were able to help someone in need, but he isn't looking to gain anything with online fundraisers. He'd prefer to make a living himself. "I'll earn everything I get so with that in mind, you know, I appreciate the opportunity that Applebee's has given me. It's really cool," Nessman told the local LA outlet.

Nessman was hired as a dishwasher and is excited about the position. "It's a good job. It's fast-paced and it keeps me busy. That's what I'm looking for." He added, "I gotta come to work tomorrow and I can hardly wait to start doing what I do, you know what I mean? It's going to be a good feeling," he said.

While Nessman now has a job, the journey to employment was challenging. "I'll be honest. When you get on the computer every day and you put in application after application, or you go to a job interview and you walk away like, 'maybe' and you didn't get the job, it does bring me down." But he continued on in spite of a lot of rejection, saved a life and now has a "good job."