A 14-month-old child has been miraculously saved from a 7-foot deep manhole in New Jersey after his brave mother jumped in and pulled him up before the sewage water could sweep him away.
The incident happened Thursday morning at a playground in Union, a suburb approximately 15 miles west of New York City. The unidentified mother noticed her toddler was missing and when she searched for him, she found him inside the open manhole that had approximately 2 feet of water in it.
The mother immediately called 911, but the water was up to the child's chin and he was starting to drift away. The woman quickly jumped into the manhole and pulled the toddler out of the water before the responders arrived.
The child was rescued just before he was swept into an underground area that would have been too small to access, authorities said as per ABC 7.
The toddler and mother are both safe, except that the child ingested some water from sewage. As a precaution, they were taken to a local hospital to be checked.
"When you're in a situation like that and it's your child you'll do anything you possibly can to save them," Union Battalion Chief Anthony Schmidtberg said, according to CBS Local. "It was more amazing she was able to get them both out because there is no access ladder. She must have grabbed onto the ledge and jumped out."
Officials suspect the flooding caused by hurricane Ida created pressure in the sewer and blew off the manhole's cover. Based on the photos shared by the residents in the area, the playground was flooded like a pond after the hurricane.
After the shocking incident, the Department of Public Works sent its crew around all local parks in the area to check if all the manholes were covered.
Meanwhile, Schmidtberg took the opportunity to remind people to be extra careful when walking outside, especially during storms.
"You just have to be careful. Watch where you step. Check, especially if there is a storm, you should never go, when you cannot see it, in the water, these things do pop up, and you can fall, and you're not going to be able to get back out," he said.
Representational image Photo: pixabay
