UMVA has learned that a heart-stopping scene unfolded on a London street when a young girl was left dangling from a window ledge for nearly nine minutes before being rescued by a heroic bystander.
The girl was spotted clinging to a window on a flat above a pawnbroker's on Ilford High Road, east London, on Tuesday afternoon, sending onlookers into a panic. Footage showed bystanders screaming, 'Hurry up,' as a woman appeared from a window below, calling and reaching out to her.
The youngster desperately tried to pull herself up as a police officer on a ledge below appeared, looking helplessly at the girl. A topless man joined the pair to rescue the girl just as her grip began to fail, as a passerby could be seen below carrying a step ladder.
The man and officer positioned themselves directly below the girl, and in a heart-stopping moment, the instant she fell, gasps rang out from the crowd. But the unidentified man caught her, with the officer steadying them both as he wobbled and onlookers cheered and clapped below.
'Well done!' one shouted. 'The baby got saved, my God,' another added. The man and child embraced before he handed her to the woman through the window below. The officer thanked the man for saving the child, according to the video.
UMVA can exclusively reveal that shoppers on the high street could be heard questioning why the youngster was hanging off the window and where her parents or guardians were. The Met Police said officers arrived at the scene just after 3:20 pm and were called to Ilford High Road at 3:23 pm on Tuesday following concerns for the safety of a child climbing onto a window ledge.
The girl was brought to safety by 3:32 pm by an attending officer and member of the public, and fortunately, they did not receive any injuries. The heroic actions of the bystander and the officer undoubtedly saved the young girl from a potentially tragic fate.
