Helen Beard, an English tourist in Orlando, caught more than a tan in Florida this week. Beard showed that legendary English backbone when she caught a 2-year-old child who fell from a fourth-floor balcony of at the Econo Lodge on International Drive in Orlando. Beard is an inspiration to us all and a fine representative of that stalwart people of Britannia.
Update” Beard has been honored by the city. She is a health services analyst and a perfect hero for our times.
Amazingly, Jah-Nea Myles was not injured in the fall despite hitting the third-floor railing as she fell. Beard had seen the child dangling from the balcony while she was at the pool.
Helena Myles, the mother of Jah-Nea, told deputies that she left her daughter with a friend in the room next door and that friend Dominique Holt, left the child briefly to go to the bathroom.
Well, I say Bully job, Mrs. Beard, what, what? This is why the sun will never set on the British empire.
In her honor and those of all of her countrymen, I give you Rule Britannia (one of my favorite songs):
Source: Click Orlando
Jonathan Turley
good thing it was a brit that made the catch. a fan of american football having made a catch like that might have been tempted to…
That is an amazing story. One lucky child and one lucky, but dumb parent and friend. I would expect DCFS should be looking into that situation. I would hope that the hero would be given a free room for the night, at least, for her efforts.
I suspect that just about everyone would rush and try to catch a falling toddler, but FYI – a toddler is heavy enough that falling from much higher, (s)he would impart enough kinetic energy to a would-be catcher to have a good chance of killing the person on the ground.
I’m very glad that this worked out so well for everyone involved!
Just to show you how well I keep up on things, I LIVE in Orlando and was completely unaware of this story.
Sounds like the story from Paris we commented about (and impishly credited JT with) when our host was running up and down the French countryside on his recent European trip. Now we see the same story from Orlando immediately after spring break for school kids here in Virginia. Call me inquisitive or just rash but where was JT over spring break? Have we ever seen JT in the same room with this Brit? Draw your own conclusions.
http://jonathanturley.org/2010/11/03/parisian-baby-falls-seven-stories-into-arms-of-passer-by-where-is-jt-staying-by-the-way/
PS Some balconies have an inner rail that makes it a lot harder to fall or climb out but most don’t because the inner rail costs more and takes up more space.
Most of these hotels have no screen doors and no way to keep a toddler off a balcony except to keep the balcony locked. Many hotels have no rooms without balconies. Most baby sitters who work in these hotels are provided and referred to the customer by the hotel.
I think the reason that there is no provision to keep toddlers, or adults with dementia, safe on balconies is that unless you are a significant wage earner the wrongful death settlements are capped so low that they won’t cover legal fees and the statute of limitations is often only one year too.
Who leaves the door to a fourth floor balcony open with a toddler around, much less leaving a toddler unattended with the door open?
That is one lucky child….Now why was the child dangling from the 3rd floor balcony?