A difficult choice

What do you do when you have to choose between getting the monster and saving the kid? There are arguments for both sides. I know most people don't think there is an argument for letting the kid die. Think of it this way though. One kid now apposed to the possibility of 10 or 20 later. Plus you don't know if when the monster gets away this time that you'll ever be able to catch it again. It could be gone for good and you will never know the extent to it's murderous rampages. Also we are assuming that there is no way you can do both. This isn't one where the hero is so good they can rescue the kid and catch the villain in one move. Things just aren't going to work out on that one. Now weigh all that against looking at a kid who is injured and just letting them go. Could you possibly live with yourself if you knew that you were responsible for their last moments ending in horrible pain. I think that even knowing that I could be allowing awful things to happen in the future I'd have to save the kid now. Then work really really hard to make sure nothing went wrong later.