A 7-year-old Brooklyn girl is miraculously alive and well today after plummeting three stories — thanks to a heroic neighbor who raced into action and broke her fall.
Hero Bus Driver Catches Girl Who Fell from Window
A 7-year-old Brooklyn girl is miraculously alive and well today after plummeting three stories — thanks to a heroic neighbor who raced into action and broke her fall.
Cops said little Keyla McCree pushed out one of the accordion pieces that was holding a brand- new air conditioner in a bedroom window of her Coney Island apartment and squeezed through the tiny opening before she fell off.
“She’s fine,” said the autistic girl’s mom, Shaleema McCree.
“Not a scratch on her. The man caught her, thank God.
“It’s a miracle.”
Dramatic cellphone video of Steven St. Bernard’s dramatic rescue shows a shoe-string catch that would make the Giants’ Victor Cruz proud.
The 54-second video shows Keyla perched on top of the unit above a courtyard and a crowd of anxious onlookers, including St. Bernard, a city bus driver, who stands underneath.
Keyla shifts her weight back and fourth, and in one tense moment even swings her right leg out, balancing herself with her other leg on the air conditioner.
Then she waves her arms briefly, grabs her skirt with both hands and takes off like a practiced stuntman.
As the crowd screams, St. Bernard positions himself perfectly and snatches her out of the air just before she would have hit the ground.
“This was the biggest catch of my life,” St. Bernard said later.
“She just looked shocked.”
St. Bernard, who lives in the same apartment complex, was on his way home from work and was parking his car when several children ran over to him begging him for help.
The bus driver, still in his blue MTA uniform, rushed over in the nick of time.
“There were all these kids yelling, ‘The little girl! The little girl!’ ” said St. Bernard.
“I saw a little girl standing on the air conditioner,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘Let me get over to her in time.’
“I made it just in time.”
St. Bernard said the girl was “dancing and smiling” on the small unit, seemingly oblivious to her danger.
He told her not to look down, and before he knew it, she was in free fall, tumbling right into his arms.
St. Bernard, 52, suffered a torn tendon in his biceps, a small price for saving a life, he said.
He was released after being treated for his injury at Coney Island Hospital, where the girl was also taken.
St. Bernard, who has been working for the MTA for 10 years, has four kids of his own — and one of them is a 7-year-old girl, just like Keyla.
When he eventually returned home, St. Bernard recalled, “I was cool at the time, but my heart was racing.
“What would have happened if I didn’t catch her?’’
McCree — who described her daughter’s savior as “an angel’’ — had stepped out of the room with Keyla’s younger brother when the girl pushed her way out shortly after 2 p.m.
McCree had just bought the air conditioner the day before to help battle the heat wave.
Thats sick!
The mother should be charged for neglect
Really #1?
A guy does something amazing and all you can do is find the bad in the story?
me
why should she be charged? it is totally legal to leave your daughters room for a minute, and there are no legal issues with regard to the air conditioner
#1
#1!
i have a special needs sister and i know what it is like to lokk after and live with a child with special needs, how dare you say that? look at the good in the story…
Hakoras Hatov
We should take up a collection and present the hero a gift from the residents of Crown Heights and anash worldwide.
video
doesnt look like a great catch. From that angle looks like he missed entirely.
Im assuming the story is true, all I am saying is that bad video angle.
Ephraim Grushnit
Yevarech elokim et mar St.Bernard!
May G’d bless mr. St.Bernard!
amazing!!a
totally agree with #2! kol hakovod to the man!
to #1
neglect for what? for leaving her daughter in the room alone?! u r right, maybe she should’ve tied her to her bed and this wouldn’t have happened. what r u trying to say?
bh, this guy is a hero!!
Thinkster
If you look closely, he’s wearing a cape.
Think before you speak (type)
Children with Autism often have no understanding of safety. This kind of behavior is typical and can happen in the matter of seconds. I am sure the mother is beside herself and this trauma of almost losing her child will stay with her for a long time. Instead of saying things hurtful please take the time to pray that Hashem gives this mother the strength to take care of her special needs daughter.
mom
dont say that mother should be charged… when u have a special need child youll see you need to watch them every second of the day, and the state is cutting funding so we cant get help the way we used to.
Beautiful story! Moshiach Now!
BS”D
This is incredible! kudos to him!
Milhouse
#1, What did the mother do wrong? Do you think accidents never happen to careful parents?! Every parent will tell you that no matter how careful one is, in the end only Chasdei Hashem protect our children.
im #1
I know accidents happen. And thank gd that man was there to catch the falling girl. But the mother is at fault for making it accessible that her daughter with autism can slip out. or even any other child. she should be charged or at least taught a lesson. Anywhere in ny or nj dcfs would get involved
OSI
just see #4, thats the point to be taken.
AND if anyone knows someone with an Autistic child, they will know that 3 sets of eyes is not enough. Many parents of these children do the best they can do. Think before you judge.
Beautiful Story
Amazing! This man deserves an award! Selfless help. Glad the girl is ok
ACCIDENTS CAN HAPPEN ANYTIME ANYWHERE
A CHILD FALLING ONCE DOES NOT NECESSARILY CREATE A NEGLECTFUL MOTHER. WINDOWS WITHOUT BARS ARE NOT NECESSARILY THE FAULT OF THE TENANT. CHECK FOR FACTS FIRST BEFORE MAKING YOUR ACCUSATIONS. I’M BETTING THAT NONE OF THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS, FINGER POINTING COMMENTERS ABOVE PLAYING THE BLAME GAME ARE PARENTS, ESPECIALLY NOT PARENTS OF AUTISTIC CHILDREN. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU MADE A MISTAKE? BE THANKFUL YOU WEREN’T TREATED TO THE CRUELTY THAT YOU ARE SHOWING NOW.
@ #15/#1
if you’re correct, i think that almost losing her child is more than enough of a punishment!
what worse way is there to teach a lesson?!?!?!
Nachliel Bamos
BS“D
Here is a real ”Man” Ben Adam worthy of the name. He wasn’t trying to be a hero,he didn’t worry about himself. He knows that The Infinite One gave us life,gives us life and until He takes it back,we must do all we can to keep our fellow man and ourselves alive. If S.Bernard had not recognized the Holiness of life itself,he wouldn’t have wanted to react positively as he did.
May HaShem Bless him for this act.