Neighbors catch 4-year-old falling from fifth floor; mother was drunk

Neighbors in Łomża, Poland, acted swiftly to save a 4-year-old girl who fell from a fifth-floor balcony on Sunday. The child had been alone on the balcony for about an hour before climbing onto the railing and moving to a neighbor's balcony. Passersby and residents attempted to reach the apartment, but no one answered the door.

As emergency services had not yet arrived, four men rushed to a concrete terrace below the balcony. They spread a blanket directly beneath the falling child, cushioning her impact. Despite the blanket, the force of the fall caused the girl to land on the concrete.

The child, who was conscious after the fall and reportedly had no visible external injuries, was transported to a children's hospital in Białystok for further examination. Her 27-year-old mother was asleep during the incident and only woke up when neighbors knocked on her door. A breathalyzer test revealed she had 0.7 permille of alcohol in her system.

Authorities plan to charge the mother with endangering her child's life, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison. The family was known to local police, and neighbors had reportedly heard a party at the apartment the night before.

“

The exemplary actions of the neighbors who noticed and caught the child in the blanket most likely saved this child's life.