A 22-month-old girl survived a terrifying fall down an Arkansas cliff, barely suffering a scratch while the toddler’s mom broke her ankle in the rescue, officials said Friday.
The frightening incident happened when the mom lost control of the stroller at about 8:20 p.m. Wednesday and it tumbled more than 40 feet, down the steep embankment above Lake Atalanta in northwest Arkansas, officials said.
Fortunately, the girl didn’t get thrown from the stroller and a tree stopped it from possibly going into the water, Rogers fire Capt. Josh Chapman told NBC News on Friday.
“Not to overplay anything, it’s a bit of a miracle that the tree caught her just right and kept her from going into the water,” Chapman said. “You can call it luck, divine intervention, a miracle, whatever you like.”
Firefighters secured the mom in a basket stretcher and strapped the child to a rescuer as they were all hoisted back up the embankment to safety, authorities said.
The child suffered a bloody nose in the fall, the mom said in a 911 call. But the little girl was otherwise unharmed and didn’t even go to the hospital.
“My baby, I thought I had the brakes on on her stroller and it went down the hill and I followed her,” the frightened mother told the 911 dispatcher.
