An East Point firefighter finds it a little funny that people are talking about her size now.
"I've been this size since I was 14 or 15," Rosa Tullis, 50, said with a laugh.
But never has her 4-foot 11-inch stature been as important as it was Sunday evening. That's when she was lowered several feet underground into a storm drain to rescue a 1-year-old boy who had fallen through a small hole.
Tullis said when her crew arrived on Bryant Drive, it was obvious right away she'd be the go-to woman. The hole was barely a foot across in diameter, and there was no way to send a firefighter and a ladder down to rescue the child. Even the petite Tullis wouldn't fit with a ladder and her gear, she said.
Wearing a T-shirt, pants and a harness, Tullis was lowered down with the help of her fellow firefighters. She was able to reach the little boy and hoist him up so he could be pulled to safety. He was out of the hole shortly before 8 p.m.
"He was terrified," Tullis said of the child. "He was holding on for dear life."
In her nearly seven years as a firefighter, Tullis has been a part of dozens of rescues and says she's learned the power of teamwork. Still, she had to fight her own fear while saving the boy, too.
"I am quite claustrophobic," Tullis said.
But the mother of two sons, Tullis said her maternal instincts kicked in, along with her firefighter training.
"I absolutely had the whole mother thing going on," Tullis said.
Both the child and Tullis were pulled to safety, with each suffering only abrasions in the ordeal, she said. The baby was checked at the hospital before being released to his family, the East Point Fire Department said. The child's name was not released.
Tullis said she had the chance to see the boy Monday on his way to a doctor appointment, and he appeared to be healthy.
It was the third time Tullis said her size has made her ideal for a rescue; she's even been in a similar drain before to rescue a puppy.
But it's all part of the job she always wanted but never got until her own children were older, she says. Now, she's not ready to slow down any time soon.
"I'm a different type of 50," Tullis said of her age.
Despite being lauded Monday as a hero by her co-workers, Tullis said the rescue was a team effort and all part of the job.
"If you work for the fire department, you answer emergency calls. It is the job description," Tullis said. "It's never the same job twice."
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