A surveillance camera shows a mother catching her toddler son’s leg just after he fell through the railings on the fourth floor of an office block in Colombia.
The footage went viral on various social media sites.
The incident occurred in the building of a construction company in Medellin on June 19, according to El Espectador.
In the video, the mother can be seen exiting the elevator while holding her toddler’s hand.
As she was seemingly talking on her phone and waiting outside an office, the toddler walked off on his own towards the stair railings.
He crouched down near the railings and slowly tilted forward until he fell forward at full speed between the bars in the railings.
His mother dived forwards and caught his leg, potentially saving his life.
The toddler’s body had completely left the fourth floor at this point.
A man nearby quickly ran down the stairs to the floor below in an attempt to either catch him or push him back up.
People from the office urgently ran outside and helped the mother pull him back to safety, LadBible reported.
It is not known whether the people from the office were employees or clients.
Mixed Response From Social Media
The response from people on Twitter and YouTube ranged from compliments to criticisms.
What a CATCH. Mom of the year. pic.twitter.com/kesqmacIK4
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) June 24, 2019
Some users criticized building regulations.
“Building codes: review them,” said one YouTube user.
When one person on Twitter said that the mother deserved the mother of the year title, another user gave a rebuttal.
“Mom of the year wouldn’t [let] her toddler waddle around a flight of stairs. Title revoked.”
There should have been rails preventing someone to fall through a railing to the next floor. He didn’t fall down stairs, he was heading towards the next floor down, free falling. That’s a building management issue and they are VERY lucky she caught him. Mom of the year.
— Chrissy (@chrisb895) June 24, 2019
Some people had something to say about the mother’s priorities.
She didn’t drop her cell phone either. Priorities….
— JJJ (@triplej75) June 24, 2019
Another user claimed she was a mother of two.
She also saved her phone, aka her other baby.
— Bu11ethead (@Bu11ethead1) June 24, 2019
David Flowers believed that only parents would understand what happened here.
You people clearly don’t have children. Regular day at the office
— David Flowers (@davidflowers77) June 25, 2019
AdamL noticed the way the mother handled the phone
And she gently put down the phone before grabbing the kid with her second hand. Wouldn’t want to crack the glass.
— AdamL (@Adam5365) June 24, 2019
Will compared this with the child who fell at Cincinnati Zoo resulting in the death of gorilla Harambe.
If the mom at the Cincinnati Zoo did the same thing, Harambe would still be here today.
— Will 郭 (@GuoBlue) June 24, 2019
