Huntington Beach : Girl, 12, Saves Youngster Caught on Tree and Unable to Breathe

When Beth Eichelberger’s Mickey Mouse/Donald Duck ball became stuck in the tree outside her house, the 6-year-old climbed 7 feet to retrieve it.

But as she attempted to jump the short distance to the ground, her pink T-shirt caught on a branch, cinched up around her neck and left her hanging from the tree unable to breathe.

Neighbor Gina Giampietro, 12, was in a nearby car with her father when she spotted Beth and ran to free her.

“I couldn’t yell, but Gina was in the car and she jumped out and saved me,” Beth recalled Wednesday afternoon, about 24 hours after the incident.

“She was kicking,” Gina recalled. “She couldn’t even cry. I lifted her up so she could breathe, and then she started crying.”

Beth’s mother, Viane, said she was in the living room of her Huntington Beach townhouse on Del Way, just a few yards away from the tree, when it happened. But she didn’t hear or see anything.

“By the time Gina brought her over, Beth was red and gagging a little bit,” her mother said. “Within 15 minutes she was asking: ‘Can I go out and play?’ ”

The only reminder of the incident Wednesday was a red mark around Beth’s neck, where the shirt had caught her. It doesn’t cause her any pain, she said--”only when you touch it.”

Viane Eichelberger said she is “exceedingly” grateful to Gina, who she said is always looking out for the other children in the group of townhouses.

“Gina’s like the den mother around here,” Bill Giampietro said of his daughter, who is an aspiring figure skater. “What she did really made me proud of her. She’s a hero and should get a medal.”

As for Beth, she has decided to give up climbing trees.