An Oregon teen is hailed a hero after she saved a toddler’s life from an evident electrocution in an incident that killed the baby’s parents and teen uncle Wednesday.
Majiah Washington, 18, spotted a flash outside her Portland home following a snowstorm and opened her blinds to see a red SUV crashed by a downed power line.
The teen could also see a couple trying to leave the vehicle with their baby to a slippery driveway.
A baby’s father held him and made a few steps before he slid and touched a live wire leading to a “little fire, then smoke,” Washington recalled.
The baby’s mother, who was six months pregnant, unsuccessfully tried to reach her child but also slipped and touched the wire, followed by her 15-year-old brother.
Washington called 911 to report the incident and was still on the phone when she saw the 9-month-old boy move his head on top of his unresponsive dad.
At a news conference Thursday, Washington detailed how she crouched to avoid sliding and touching the wire.
She grabbed the baby and touched the father’s body in the process but was luckily not electrocuted.
“I was concerned about the baby. Nobody was with the baby,” she said.
Portland Fire and Rescue spokesman Rick Graves commended the teen for her bravery admitting that he didn’t understand how she and the baby were not also electrocuted.
“We do have fortunately with us a toddler that is going to be able to thrive and do what they possibly can as they move forward,” he said.
“And they are here, in part, because of the heroic acts of a member of our community.”
