It was a bitter November day when a five-year-old boy slipped into a fast-moving river while his mother stood nearby, too busy chatting on her phone to notice.

As the boy struggled against the current, a homeless man named Erlich, known around town for his worn clothes and quiet presence, heard the boy’s cries. Without thinking, he dove into the icy water and pulled the child to safety, wrapping him in his tattered cloak.

But when he brought the shivering boy to his mother, instead of gratitude, she lashed out.

“Did you touch my son? You creep!” she yelled. “Better he drowned than be in your filthy hands!”

Stunned and heartbroken, Erlich turned and walked away—with the boy still in his arms.

He brought the child to a kind neighbor and asked her to call the police. “His mother nearly killed him,” he said.

Authorities arrived, and after an investigation, the mother lost custody. The boy was first cared for by the neighbor and later placed with a loving foster family—all thanks to the man no one ever looked twice at.

But that day, Erlich was a hero.