A 5-year-old boy in China miraculously survived after falling from the 20th floor of a residential building by grabbing the railings of the floor below and clinging onto them for nearly 30 minutes.
The incident occurred around 6 a.m. on July 13 in Dazhou, Sichuan Province.
Xiaoming, who managed to grab the railings on the 19th floor, fell after trying to see outside, according to Sina News.
Fortunately, he was found by a maintenance worker surnamed Peng, who came to pull out the trash.
“I saw a child falling outside the window,” said Peng, who remained calm to prevent Xiaoming from getting scared.
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After stabilizing himself, Xiaoming freed one of his hands and waved at Peng, saying “Help me, auntie.”
“Don’t let go, let’s save you,” Peng replied before rushing to the security room.
Authorities arrived and forced their way to access Xiaoming from the 19th floor.
The rescue, which caught public attention, lasted for eight minutes.
Speaking to reporters, Xiaoming’s grandmother said that the child usually stays in bed until 10 a.m. When she returned from her exercise, she thought he was still sleeping in his room.
But Xiaoming wakes up when she goes for her morning dance. She told him at the time, “Grandma’s going to dance, you sleep for a while, but wake up and open the door [when I get back].”
How Xiaoming survived the terrifying encounter is unclear, but he is said to be tall and comfortable with heights. According to his grandmother, he has the height of a 7- or 8-year-old boy, making him taller than his peers.
“While he was hanging out the window, he said that he was numb. I called him to put his arm into the fence, held his hands, asked him to not let go and persist for a while,” she recalled.
Meanwhile, Xiaoming’s grandfather said that the 5-year-old can hang with his hands outside the window for a long time.
He commented on the incident, “For normal adults, hanging on such a high floor for 20 minutes is very difficult.”
