A Georgia firefighter was caught on video catching a child dropped off a balcony by frantic parents trying to escape an apartment fire.
The family had eight children in all, CBS News reported, and several were tossed down to firefighters in a desperate attempt to get off the balcony before it was consumed in flames. The fire took place in DeKalb County outside Atlanta.
The video, which was posted to social media Sunday by the firefighter’s union, showed Captain Scott Stroup catching the child when it was dropped from a ladder as parents climbed down from a third-floor balcony in the early hours of January 3, CBS News reported. Stroup makes the catch, then staggers away from the building and drops to his knees still clutching the child in his arms.
“We were catching babies like a football, literally,” Captain Eric Jackson said, according to the New York Daily News. “There were adults that were on the balcony that were dropping their babies right into our arms. We had a couple firefighters catching babies, so it was just really incredible.”
Captain Jackie Peckrul also caught one of the children as she climbed a ladder to rescue those trapped on the balcony.
“That was the only thing running through my mind, ‘Lord, let me catch this baby,’” she said to Fox 5.
A total of 12 people were injured in the fire, CBS reported, but most of the injuries were from smoke inhalation.
Twitter users were suitably awed by the story.
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