Queens Woman Credits 'The Hand Of God' For Quick-Thinking Actions That Saved Falling Toddler
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Queens woman was being hailed as a hero Sunday, a day after she jumped into action and broke the fall of a toddler as he fell from a third story fire escape.
She told CBS2 she believes angels put her in the right place at the right time. New video taken from a neighbor's cell phone shows the moments when the child's mother realized the two-year-old had fallen. The video was shot just seconds after a neighbor, Sonia Ramirez, broke the toddler's fall.
"I think that God did it because you know my arms are not that strong and the baby was big, 49 pounds, two-years," said Ramirez. "I think it was the hand of God."
MORE: 2-Year-Old Boy Survives 3-Story Fall In Queens
Witnesses say the boy climbed out of his fourth floor Sunnyside apartment's window unattended, heading down a flight to the third floor fire escape platform.
"I moved into the place where the baby was coming," said Ramirez. "It was so fast and then I put up my arm."
The child fell after repeated attempts to get him to stop straddling the fire escape. Despite screams from neighbors below, the child's mom didn't initially come down.
"I see all this crying, people crying, people and I came down running because I saw the baby lying down on the floor and when I open the door the baby was with his eyes open," said neighbor Marlene Belasquez.
Police had to knock on the mother's door to let her know her child was injured.
"I was the one to hold her because when she came down she wanted to jump to the baby," said Belasquez.
The tot suffered minor injuries, but is expected to be okay. As for Ramirez, she has bruising on her arm but was otherwise unhurt. Police are still trying to figure out just how the boy was able to get out the window, but say they don't expect anyone to be charged.
