life-saving hero? or child abuser?

You can't quite tell from the picture but little Lilly has quite a bruised goose egg on her forehead and a scraped nose and upper lip. Yesterday, after lunch with Alan's parents and our Sister-in-law, Haley and her children, we were leisurely walking outside of the restaurant. Admiring the flowers, taking pictures of the kids with their beloved Grandma and Grandpa. After this picture was taken...I put my camera away and started toward Lilly. I reached slowly for her hand. She giggled and darted away from me....right toward 9400 South. She quickly, oh so quickly, ran, all the while laughing. My yelling for her to stop grew louder and more desperate. She was not stopping and I was not fast enough to close the gap. Alan looked over after hearing my desperate, scared cries for her to stop. He ran as fast as he could and with a giant leap in front of her pushed her back, away from the road. She had made it to just before the park strip. She was a mere 3 feet from the busy road. He had no time to grab her or the momentum would have pushed them both into oncoming traffic. He pushed her head back toward the grass but she landed face down on the concrete sidewalk. She was wailing...Alan was in adrenaline shock. I had twisted my ankle in my feeble attempt to run after her. Our eyes were big, our hearts were pounding. Lilly's bruised, swollen head was already very apparent.
We all had a sick stomach, but, poor Al was worse off than the rest of us. He felt like a child abuser though he was obviously a hero.

We had driven separate vehicles and Max hopped in Al's car. On the way home Max said "Dad, when I look at the bump on Lilly's forehead it makes me think you're a criminal. Kind of." Alan felt like a criminal. I tried to explain to Al that that is exactly what DOES NOT make him a criminal. The fact the he is a good person means he would naturally feel bad about what had happened. I don't think criminals feel bad. So, I decided to write about this "excitement" this morning. When I announced I would be posting the story Max explained, "I don't think that is a very good idea. Child protective services might read it."

Lilly seems all better. Even the bump has greatly diminished. She seems to adore her Daddy, just like always. I'm just worried about Lilly's seeming need to learn lessons by experience. Getting hit by a car when your 2 years old and 20 pounds isn't a lesson you learn from!