Timing is everything, and no one believes that more than Konrad Lightner and his wife Jennifer, who happened to be carrying a box spring mattress under a third-story apartment window when a three-year old toddler was about to fall to the pavement below.
“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 mattress underneath the child, and at that point the child released and fell to the ground,” said Burbank Police Lt. John Dilibert. Konrad stood by the mattress and actually caught the child, breaking the fall and then gently gliding onto the mattress, saving the child. The Lightners, who were moving from their Burbank apartment on Saturday, were moving their bed at the time of the incident.
What’s more, earlier in the day the couple had spent 30 minutes trapped in an elevator, which set their day back by just the right amount of time allowing for them and the young boy to perfectly synchronize their introduction and determine the boy’s fate. The child was taken to a local hospital for evaluation; fortunately, he did not suffer any major injuries.
The toddler’s parents were alerted by a neighbor, and they quickly rushed to the scene. Photos from the paramedics at the scene showed the father hugging the child and appearing grateful that the boy was rescued.
“We were just moving the rest of the day and every once in a while we’d look at each other and just be like, ‘That happened. That was real.'” Konrad said, “It feels like I watched a TV show, like it didn’t happen to me.”