Ashley Brown drops daughter from third floor of burning building
Ashley Brown, mother of a three-year-old girl rescued her daughter from a burning building by tossing her from a third-story window.
Ashley Brown, 23, from Stone Mountain, Georgia, said her first thought was to save her two babies when a fire broke out from a ground floor apartment, leaving the family trapped inside.
A video footage shows the frantic Ashley Brown manoeuvring her toddler down the building, after dropping her six-month-old son into a stranger’s arms.
Lawrence Fort caught the baby moments after a kitchen fire broke out in his apartment.
After pounding on neighbours’ doors to alert them of the fire, Lawrence Fort saw the family of three was trapped, grabbed a fluffy coat and yelled to the mother to drop her baby into his arms.
Ashley Brown, mother of a three-year-old girl rescued her daughter from a burning building by tossing her from a third-story window
Ashley Brown said dropping the baby was “the most difficult decision of her life”, according to local TV station Channel 2.
The mother-of-two also told AJC.com: “Some people were saying drop him. And some people were saying don’t.
“He looked at me and I looked at him. I said <<Please catch my baby>>. He said, <<I promise I will>>, and he caught him.”
From the balcony, Ashley Brown dropped her baby, James. Then, the woman tied a rope to her three-year-old daughter Jayda’s waist and arm, and lowered the child to a crowd of neighbours.
The incident was captured on a cell phone with video showing the rope slipping from the toddler’s ankle and catching her at the ankle as the child tumbles into a crowd below.
Ashley Brown and her six-month-old son, James
Ashley Brown was reportedly helping her mother-in-law, Denise Watson, to safety when fire and rescue officials arrived to the scene, and she was rescued.
According to AJC, fire damaged the building in the 500 block of 3 Oaks Bend after starting at approximately 6:45 p.m.
DeKalb Police Officer Miguel Anchundia said authorities also helped two other women trapped in another apartment on the third floor.
It was reported that a cat also survived after being tossed from a third-floor window.
According to police, four people, including the children, were transported to a hospital in stable condition. AJC reports Ashley Brown’s both children are doing fine after the ordeal.