While out on a walk with her dog, a 33-week pregnant Iowa woman caught her neighbor’s son in her arms after he fell from two stories.
The incident occurred in a neighborhood in Des Moines on Monday when Kyrie Jones noticed the two-year-old throwing stuff out the window, KCCI reported.
Concerned, she knocked and rang the doorbell of her neighbor’s house, but nobody answered. Jones called the police and then returned to the sight of the small child hanging on the ledge. The mother stood underneath the window in case he were to fall. The child did lose his grip, and Jones was able to catch him, preventing him from hitting the concrete.
“He kind of hit my belly a little bit. I think the adrenaline kicked in, and I didn’t feel anything,” said Jones.
The mother came out of the house, and it is unclear if she will face charges. Social services and the police are following up.
It is estimated that 3,300 U.S. children are treated in hospital emergency departments every year for injuries caused by falling out of windows, as reported by Nationwide Children. Over 85 percent of children that have fallen out of windows first fell through a screen, as reported by Seattle’s Child. It is unknown if this child had fallen through a screen.
“Window screens give a false sense of security,” Dr. Brian Johnston, chief of pediatrics at Harborview Medical Center, the region’s only Level I pediatric and adult trauma center, told Seattle’s Child. “A screen is not a safety device. It’s designed to keep insects out, not to keep children in. Parents of young children need to take other steps to prevent this tragedy.”
Safety experts advise parents to invest in window guards which would prevent the window from moving above 4 inches. The quick release mechanism guards will allow the window to be opened easily by an adult in case of a fire emergency.