Seconds after getting out of her smoke-filled apartment, a DeKalb County girl helped save another child’s life Thursday afternoon.
“I caught the newborn baby from falling, before it hit the ground,” Zna Gresham, 10, told Channel 2 Action News.
Zna caught the 1-month-old baby, one of three young children dropped to safety from a second-floor window at the Arbors at North Decatur Road. Two other children, ages 2 and 3, hit the ground, but sustained minor injuries, fire officials said.
The three young children and two adults were hospitalized, but no injuries were believed life-threatening. Zna’s grandmother, whose name was not released, was burned on her back by the fire that appeared to start in the family’s kitchen on the bottom floor.
The family upstairs, with three young children, had no choice but to drop the three from a window, according to DeKalb County Battalion Chief Christopher Morrison.
“The smoke was rising so quickly to the upper floors, they couldn’t make their way outside their upper apartment into the hallway because of the smoke,” Morrison told 95.5 FM and AM 750 News/Talk WSB. “They just went to a window and they threw the child outside to the people, to the neighbors, down on the ground.”
Zna said she didn’t hesitate to help rescue the children because she didn’t want them to get hurt.
“In our family, we take care of our neighbors, no matter what,” Zna said.
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