Man Dashes to Rescue Just in Time as Toddler Falls From Third-Story Ledge

A girl outside an apartment house looked up to see a toddler dangling by his fingertips from a third-floor window ledge and yelled: “The baby’s going to fall.” Albert Hanscom heard her and dashed over just in time to catch the boy.

“Positively he’s a hero,” Boston Police Officer Robert McCarthy said Tuesday. “Any time you save a life, especially a child’s life, that’s really something. The family should be eternally grateful.”

Authorities said that John Reynolds, 2, had been taking a nap in his bedroom Monday and was awakened by the sound of children playing outside. He managed to push out a screen window and climb out on the ledge.

“I caught him by the waist,” Hanscom, 50, said, “and he knocked us both down and we started rolling.” He said the toddler was scared and crying, “but then he relaxed and started fooling around.”

The boy suffered only scratches on his face.