A baby fell three stories from a building in Burbank, California on Sunday, but he fell directly into a stranger’s arms. When a couple spotted the toddler hanging out of the window, they set up a mattress underneath him and were there to catch him when he released his grip.
Burbank Police Lt. John Dilibert told the city’s KABC Konrad Lightner and his wife, Jennifer’s fast thinking saved the baby’s life.
"The child climbed out of the window and was actually hanging out on to what appeared to be a telephone line or a cable line. They placed the mattressunderneath the child, and at that point the child released and fell to the ground," said Lt. Dilibert.
The toddler was taken to a nearby hospital for evaluation after the fall, but he had suffered no injuries. "It feels like I watched a TV show, like it didn't happen to me," said Konrad. His wife added, "It was very surreal afterwards. We were just moving the rest of day and every once in a while we'd look at each other and just be like, 'That happened. That was real.'"
Since they were moving that day, they had a mattress on hand. The fact that they thought to place the mattress underneath the window was extremely helpful, as it provided a soft spot for Konrad to collapse after catching the baby.
CNN reports photos from the scene of the baby’s father cradling him with no signs of trauma.
The Lightners said they had been stuck on an elevator for 30 minutes earlier that day and if that didn’t happen, they might not have been there at the time of the baby’s fall.