Baby Rescued After Fall From Window On 18th Avenue

Panic struck residents walking along 18th Avenue when an 18-month-old baby was spotted crawling around an awning over a Bensonhurst storefront on Friday. ABC News is reporting that the baby managed to slip between an air-conditioning unit, landing on the awning of Computer Tenda Tech (8015 18th Avenue), before being rescued by resident Qing Chen.

ABC described how the 27-year-old Chen, who works at the Pure Health Pharmacy store (8014 18th Avenue), got involved in the rescue of baby Ayana, who was visiting her grandmother’s apartment:

Mr. Chen was working at Pure Health Pharmacy in Bensonhurst; just before 2 p.m. Friday, when he looked out of the window and saw a baby on the awning of the computer store across the street.

“She was crawling back and forth and to the edge she was about to fall off. And that’s when we yelled at her and crawled back to where the letter ‘O’ was and she sat there. We screamed at her said ‘Don’t move,’ and (she) started crying and she just sat there,” Chen said.

Exclusive surveillance video shows Chen sprinting across the street to help.

Other Good Samaritans put up a ladder to try to grab the 18-month-old, but it wasn’t enough because she was out of reach, a good 15 feet off the ground.

“My boss actually got on top with the orange shirt and he put his hand up just in case the baby rolled over he would catch her,” said Amy Vaccaro, a witness.

So Chen ran up to the child’s apartment and banged on the door.

Her mother answered.

“I said, ‘Where’s your baby?’ She was in shock. And I was like, ‘Your baby is outside and she’s about to fall off of the roof,'” Chen said.

Chen then jumped onto the awning and grabbed the baby. Chen brushed off praise that his actions were heroic.

“I don’t feel like hero or anything like that. Anybody would step in like that,” Chen told ABC.

The baby was sent to Maimonides Medical Center where she was treated for minor injuries but later released back to her mother.

The New York Daily News is reporting that the city’s Administration for Children’s Services will investigate the incident.