“Do not move, little kid! Do not move, little kid! You do not move,” yelled policemen to the toddler perched precariously on the curved metal railing on a balcony sill. Five storeys below, about nine neighbors spread out and held tightly to three comforters, preparing for the inevitable.
At about mid-afternoon on Mar. 8 in the Dongguan district of Guangdong Province, south China, the grandmother of the toddler—a one-year-old boy—found herself locked out of the balcony where they were playing, according to Southern China Daily.
Panicking, the grandmother went to the open window next to the balcony and called out to her grandson. Unfortunately, the toddler realized that he might be able to reenter the house through the window, and proceeded to climb up onto the metal railing mounted on the balcony sill.
Neighbor Xu Bayi was investigating the source of a child’s anxious cries when she saw the toddler’s leg dangling precariously over the balcony edge. She shouted: “Help, there’s a kid about to fall off the building!”
Nine neighbors grabbed comforters and positioned themselves underneath the balcony while the local police made their way up. The boy lost his grip before the police could reach him, and plunged five floors into the comforters amidst screams from onlookers. He was checked into a hospital, but was found to be uninjured.
“I was hugging my son tightly and my legs almost gave way,” said the toddler’s mother to reporters from a local television station after the incident.
“It took me a long time before I could calm down, and I was not able to sleep last night.”
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