PEOPLE - 10 Unbelievable Stories about Children Who Survived High Falls

by Grace Murano 

 Strange Stories

1

Man Saves Two Different Babies from Building Window Falls on Two Separate Occasions

One thing is for sure, if you lived in Detroit in the 1930s and your baby jumped from a window, chances were that Mr. Joseph Figlock was going to be there to save the day!

In 1937, a baby fell from the 4th floor of a building, falling on a man who was passing below. One year later, exactly the same thing happened - another baby, another 4th floor window, same man.

Street Sweeper Joseph Figlock was furbishing up an alley when a baby plopped down from a fourth-story window and struck him on the head and shoulders. Figlock and the baby were injured but not killed. But just like the man who was struck by lightning seven times, one year later, as Figlock was sweeping out another alley, two-year-old David Thomas fell from a fourth-story window and, you guessed it, landed on Figlock with the same results. (Source)

2

Baby Survives an 8-story Fall in His Mother's Arms After She Jumps to Her Death

In March 2013, a distraught Manhattan lawyer strapped her 10-month-old son to her chest and leaped to her death from an eighth-story window in Harlem — and the baby miraculously survived with little more than scratches.

Cynthia Wachenheim, 44, who left an incoherent 13-page suicide note castigating herself for being a bad mother, landed on her back after taking the fatal plunge. Baby Keston was in a harness. He bounced off his mom on impact and then rolled away from her motionless arms.

Neighbor Steven Dominguez, 18, was walking to a grocery store with his mother, Adelina Dominguez, when he saw the woman fall. When he approached Wachenheim on the ground, he saw the baby crying on the sidewalk. (Source)

3

Woman Catches a Two-Year-Old Girl After a 10-Story Fall and Both Survive

In 2011, Wu Juping, a young mother from Hangzhou, a city in east China, saved the life of two-year-old Niu Fangyu, who fell from the 10th floor of a building, by catching the baby in her bare arms.

The accident happened while Niu's grandmother was running errands outside. The little girl woke up from her nap and her grandmother was nowhere to be found. She then climbed onto the windowsill, probably trying to find her.

A neighbor from the opposite building saw Niu's body hanging out of the window and a resident from the 9th floor tried to reach Niu by using a ladder, but failed.

Wu Juping rushed across the street just in time to catch Niu as she lost her grip on the windowsill.

The emergency room doctor ruled out injury to Niu's head or neck, but said that she may have suffered internal bleeding in her abdomen. The brave 32-year-old lady, who became a mother seven months ago, injured her arm.

Jack Ma, Chairman of Alibaba Group, the company where Wu works, also called Wu a "heroine" in his micro-blog, and the company declared that it would give Wu 200,000 yuan ($30,940) as an award for her good deed.(Source 1 | Source 2)

4

Baby's Miraculous Rescue after a Fall from a Skyscraper Caught on Camera

In 2013, a two-year-old girl fell from the fifth-floor window of her home in east China's Zhejiang Province, but luckily she was saved by a group of motorcycle couriers who noticed her on the window's ledge mere moments before she plummeted.

Five express mail carriers were taking a morning break in the Geshuiyang village of Ninghai County, Zhejiang Province, when they heard the crying of a little girl who was sitting on a fifth-floor window ledge.

It is believed the young girl had woken from a sleep and climbed out onto the window sill still disorientated.

The couriers rushed over and stood under the window. Just as they started to discuss how to save the girl, she fell. Fortunately the men were there to catch her and save her life.

As seen in surveillance footage, the men managed to cushion the fall.

Although the girl does hit the ground after slipping through the men's hands, the impact was significantly reduced and the girl was able to stand just after the incident.


(Source)

5

Toddler Survives After Falling 20 Feet Out of a Window

In July 1023, 23-month-old Leo Fernando escaped a 20-foot fall out of a first floor window onto concrete with no broken bones, being left with just a bruise and a scratch on his knee.

Nurses said that the boy suffered just minor injuries because he didn't stiffen his body when he fell.

Leo had been playing with his elder brother Jayhan, three, on their parents' bed when he fell through the open first floor window. His father, Antony, 34, who was also sitting on the bed, made a desperate grab for him and screamed as he watched his tiny son lose his grip on the window frame and fall to the concrete below. (Source)

6

Toddler Falls 80 Feet and Bounces into the Arms of a Doctor

In what was called a miracle by the French media, an 18-month-old infant survived an 80-foot fall from a sixth-floor apartment after being left unattended by his parents.

He had a stroke of luck when a passing doctor saw him fall and caught him before he hit the ground. The doctor found no injuries but he was taken to the hospital for a check-up.

The toddler's fall was broken by the awning of Le Vincennes cafe – which was only in place because a mechanism had jammed and stopped it from being lowered.

A witness living in a building opposite the apartment said that he saw the baby playing by the window with a girl a few years older. They were coming and going from the window, he said, and he had a feeling that something bad might happen.

The doctor who caught the boy, identified as Philippe Benseniot, was walking by with his wife and son, who spotted the boy falling.(Source 1 | Source 2)

7

Baby Girl Survives a 30-Meter Fall from a Cable Car Over the Swiss Alps which Kills Her Parents

A baby survived a 100-foot fall from a cable car – which killed her parents – by landing in a tree.

Rescuers heard murmurings in bushes and found the one-year-old in a baby carrier rucksack. The accident killed both her parents, but the one-year-old orphan managed to escape death.

The child's mother, 31, and father, 38, took the cable car, which was intended for freight use, to descend 2,700 ft up the Baerlaui Alp, Switzerland during a trek. Suddenly, just after starting, there was a sudden lurch which tipped all three out onto the rocks nearly 100 feet below.

Mother and father died instantly from head wounds, but rescuers heard whimpering from a rucksack and it was the baby, who was severely hurt but alive. The rucksack was said to have cushioned the fall.

Authorities said that the man, a Swiss native who lived with his Canadian wife abroad, had returned with his family for a holiday in the region.(Source)

8

Toddler Survives a Three-Story Fall by Landing on His Feet

In March 2013, a four-year-old boy from Colorado survived a three-story fall, miraculously landing on his feet. Dylan Hayes fell out of the window of his Aurora apartment while his mother was shampooing her carpets. She had moved her couch to the wall when Dylan climbed on it to talk through the windows to the downstairs neighbors.

Dylan fell out of the third story window, did two somersaults in the air, and landed on the rock below on his feet. The screen he broke through suffered more damage than he did. He was hospitalized for 20 hours, wearing a neck brace as a precaution, but he was released with barely a scratch.

The mother has since moved out of her apartment to live with a relative and is looking for a new home -- on the first floor. (Source)

9

7-month-old Boy Survives a 40-Foot Fall After Being Thrown Off a Bridge

In 2012, a seven-month-old baby who was flung 40 feet down the Indira Gandhi railway from a bridge in Pimpri by his inebriated father after a quarrel with his wife miraculously survived the fall. The baby fell on a patch of thick grass between two railway tracks, cushioning his fall.

People who witnessed the quarrel and saw the man, Yuvraj Anil Deshmukh, throw the baby off the bridge thrashed him, and the police had a hard time rescuing him from their grip to arrest him.

The baby fell on the green patch between the two tracks and suffered no injuries. (Source)

10

Little girl Catches a Newborn Baby Who was Dropped from a Second-Story Window During a Fire

This little Georgia girl was hailed a hero for catching a baby who was dropped from a second-story apartment window during a fire. Zna Gresham, just ten years of age, caught the tiny newborn as she plunged 20 feet to the ground.

The infant was one of three kids who were launched out of the Atlanta block's window by a desperate mom whose home was quickly being overcome with flames. Her two other children, ages two and three, hit the ground and sustained minor injuries.

According to firefighters, the mom had no other option but to drop her children. Thankfully, everyone survived. (Source)