Infant saved from plunge

Baby crawls through rail of third-story balcony, falls into woman's arms

Bianca Prieto, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 2, 2006 at midnight

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Mary Bussey and her son Brandon were on their way to a little league football game at around noon Saturday when they came upon the unimaginable:

A crying 8-month-old baby dangling off a balcony three stories above a cement sidewalk, hanging on by one hand.

"I thought someone was on the other side of the railing holding on to her," Mary Bussey said of first seeing the baby. "I thought, 'What a rotten trick.' "

As she got closer, though, she saw it was the baby girl's tiny fist clinging to the railing. The girl cried louder as her small hand began to slip.

Somehow the infant managed to hang on just long enough for Bussey to position herself underneath the baby. An instant later, Bussey caught the little girl as she tumbled from the balcony.

"I just got right underneath her," Bussey said, putting her arms out in front of her like catching a football. "Then, boom! She landed right in my arms."

While his mother was readying herself to catch the child, 13-year-old Brandon ran desperately up two flights of stairs in an effort to get to the girl before she dropped.

Just as he rounded the corner to start up the second set of stairs, he saw the baby land, uninjured, in his mothers waiting arms.

"I was just hoping she caught her," said Brandon.

At a news conference Sunday outside of the Shadow Woods Condominiums in Southeast Denver, Chief of Police Gerry Whitman lauded the Busseys as heroes and praised them for their quick thinking.

"Had the baby landed on the sidewalk, it could have been serious injury or death," Whitman said. "It was almost tragic."

Whitman presented the Busseys with framed certificates, a gift bag, movie tickets and a gift certificate for dinner.

Brandon had first spotted the crying child while he was on his way to take out the trash before his football game.

Looking up, he saw the child sitting with her legs on either side of the railing, her feet dangling over the ledge.

Brandon thought she was with an adult, he said, but when he turned to meet his mom at their car, he looked up again and saw the child was about to fall.

That's when the two sprang into action.

According to police, the infant's 17-year- old mother had left the child in the care of her 13- and 10-year-old brothers while she went to work. The baby's grandfather, who also lives in the condo, was not home at the time.

The boys left their third-floor condo and did not close the front door, police said. The baby managed to crawl out the door and onto the balcony.

"It's amazing! A minute earlier or later and we would have missed her," Bussey said. "I'm not a hero, I'm a mom. If something happened to my kid, I hope someone would help him out."

After the incident, the child was taken into custody by the Department of Human Social Services. By Sunday afternoon, however, the baby was back with her mother but under close watch.

"We have had significant contact with the family," said Sue Cobb, spokeswoman for the Denver Department of Human Services. "We were at their home today, and we will see them again tomorrow."

Cobb could not speak directly about the case but said a child taken into custody is not returned to the home unless the department is certain the child is not in any immediate danger.

Charges have not been filed against anyone, but the case is still being investigated, Whitman said.

The infant's mother, whom police did not name, refused to comment Sunday.

Bussey said the baby's mother thanked her Sunday for saving her daughter.

"I'll never forget that," Mary said of the incident. "She's a strong, strong little girl to hang on like that."

prietob@RockyMountainNews.com 303-954-5219

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