A young girl who dangled for at least nine minutes from a window ledge in Ilford was saved by a ‘complete stranger’ – who said his cricket skills helped him catch her.
The three-year-old was spotted by onlookers clinging to a window on a flat above a pawnbroker’s on Ilford High Road, east London, on Tuesday afternoon.
Fortunately, she was brought to safety by a police officer and a civilian who rushed out of his home to save her.
A Muslim immigrant saved the day
Father-of-two Mohamed Jesil of South Asian decent, who arrived to the UK as immigrant, was brave and courageous as he came to the girl’s rescue, described how the little girl gave him a ‘big hug’ after he ran across rooftops to save her.
He said: ‘I ran out on instinct. I’m a dad of twins aged five months, and as a dad I just reacted. I wasn’t scared, I just didn’t think. I’m not a hero, I just did it as a dad seeing a child in trouble. There was massive relief when I managed to catch her; she didn’t say anything, just gave me a big hug. I’m so happy it could help.’
Jesin added that his cricket skills helped him catch the girl. He told Metro News: ‘I played cricket in India so that may have helped with my catching. I just knew I had to concentrate.’
Footage posted on social media showed bystanders screaming: ‘Hurry up,’ as a woman appears from a window below, calling and reaching out to her.
The youngster desperately tries to pull herself up as a police officer on a ledge below appears, looking helplessly at the girl.
Jesil then joins efforts to rescue the girl just as her grip begins to fail, and a passerby can be seen below carrying a step ladder.
The men then position themselves directly below the girl and gasps can be heard from the crowd as she falls.
Jesil caught her, with the officer steadying them both as he wobbled and onlookers cheered and clapped below.
‘Well done!’ one shouted. ‘The baby got saved, my God,’ another added.
‘We are so relieved. They saved our child’
The girl’s father described the policeman and the second man who caught her as ‘amazing heroes’.
He also said that his daughter was ‘fine’ and would be going to school following the ordeal.
He said that the man who helped the officer in the rescue was a ‘complete stranger’ to them.
He said: ‘They were both amazing. They were heroes. We are so relieved. They saved our child.
‘She is fine thanks to them. We are very grateful. She will be going to school again today [and] we would like to say thanks to those people.’
Mohamed Jesil was at home in Ilford, east London, on Tuesday afternoon when he heard the commotion outside. A 3-year-old girl was clinging to a window ledge on a flat above a pawnbroker's on Ilford High Road, and a crowd had gathered below on the street watching her grip slip.… pic.twitter.com/gtlqjtAorx
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