Two men praised after catching falling baby in Lawrence


Two men were praised as heroes today after they caught an 18-month-old baby girl who plummeted at least 30 feet from the window of a triple-decker apartment building in Lawrence.


Alex Day, 23, of Lawrence joined Robert Lemire, 45, of Methuen in catching the baby as she hurtled towards the earth Sunday night.

"She looked at me and had a weird look on her face as if to say, 'Wow, all of a sudden I'm down here,' " Day recalled in an interview today. He said he rushed the baby back upstairs to her home. On the stairs, he said, the baby actually started chuckling.

Lemire said he was walking down Haverhill Street at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday, talking to a friend on his cellphone about softball practice, when he saw some toys falling out of the window of a three-decker.

"Next thing you know, I hear a baby cry, so I automatically looked there and there was a baby hanging out the window," he said. "So I pretty much bolted across the street."

Lemire opened the door of the house on Haverhill Street, yelled for help, then returned underneath the window and tried to call 911. Day, who had been in a Bible study session on the first floor, joined him and Lemire soon warned him, "Here she comes."

The baby fell through the air and when she landed, "he pretty much got the top and I got the diaper end, or the bottom half, or whatever you call it," Lemire said.

Lemire, a home remodeling contractor who is married with two children, 13 and 16, said, "I was nervous as heck, thinking of my own kids."

Day, a trucking manager, said it was fortunate that he had started going back to the gym so he could help catch the baby, who weighed about 30 pounds.

He saw divine intervention at work in the baby's rescue. "Yeah, I think God had a lot to do with this," said Day. "Definitely, by God."

Caliah Clark was taken to a hospital. but is expected to be OK. The two rescuers were "real heroes," Police Chief John Romero said. The Department of Social Services was notified and was expected to investigate.

The child's father, Randall Clark, said he was watching a 2-month-old baby in another room when the incident occurred, Romero said.

Romero said there was no child guard on the window.

"There are a number of things we are doing to investigate on our end," he said. "At this point, we are investigating to determine what led up to this incident."

Officials said the baby had fallen 40 feet, but Lemire said that was incorrect.

The fall was 28 feet, perhaps 30, he said. "Like I said, I'm a remodeling contractor so I'm pretty good at the heights."

"I didn't know if it was a boy or a girl. I was just happy we were lucky enough to catch her," he said.

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This is amazing that someone was there to catch her. But seriously what parent is going to leave a baby in a room where there is an open window within reach for her to climb/fall out of?

WOW, that's simply amazing. Although what the hell is going on in a household where a kiddie can get to an open window 30 feet up!!??

Wow... that's so lucky.

Omgoodness!

Why the hell wouldn't you safeguard your windows if a toddler can clearly climb out. She was so lucky that man saw her!

wow, seems like parents should be more educated. I mean you can't leave a window open when you have a toddler that can climb. Are you stupid? It makes me mad to hear about people that can't seem to take care of their kids. At 18 months old a baby shouldn't be left in a room alone anyways, must less a room with an open window.

Even educated parent's do stupid things. Look up the statistics for toddlers/children falling out windows and you'll find out just how common of a tragedy it is.

Yes, and even educated parents could still do with more educating.

And all the education in the world isn't going to keep you from having a complete brain fart over the stupidest things.

i would've thought safe guarding a window, or even keeping the two kids in one room wasn't stupid but sensible. doesn't seem like something you'd have a brain fart over. seems like the dad missed a rather huge and basic bit of parenting there.

This was hardly a 'brain fart over the stupidest thing' and the fact that you'd even want to stick up for the stupidity of leaving a toddler unsupervised in a room with no barrier over a window that was open 30 FEET UP... makes me very very afraid for your children.

There is stupid things, and there is lacking common sense. Common sense to me says that on the third floor you have a fucking barrier over your window. Not having one isn't a stupid mistake, it's an idiotic and irresponsible move on the parents behalf.

She wasn't sticking up for the stupidity of the parents. I would re-read what she posted, hun.

I wasn't sticking up for the parents. I was pointing out that it doesn't matter how much education one has, it's not going to prevent you from being stupid.

And you should know by now that not everyone has common sense. Take a look around you and tell me how uncommon common sense is.

Oh, and BTW, MY children are VERY safe, TYVM for passing judgment on people you know nothing about.

Totally agree with you.
No matter what you can't prevent all accidents/mishaps/stupid events from happening.
No matter who you are.
With or without common sense.
Or educated smarts.

I agree. A window barrier seems like something you'd install as soon as the baby became mobile (starting crawling) and NOT remove.

i doubt that. they must be lacking a whole lot of common sense???

Thank goodness the baby was saved, but what's wrong with the parents leaving the kid in a room with an open window like that?? That's ridiculous!

Oops..forgot to add the word parent's HEADS....

omg!!! stupid ass parents!! thank god shes ok but WHAT are the chances in something like that happening??

Far outs man,

This is a case of retarded parenting pure nd simple. I dont open GROUND floor window because I have a toddler in the house, what were these people thinking?

Wow. Someone was looking out for that baby. How scary!

Your job as a parent is to see accidents before they happen and try to protect and keep your child safe. I am always trying to my toddler from hurting herself. Not leaving a window open for her to climb out of seems like a given to me. I'm not saying accidents aren't going to happen, like falling down and scraping their knee, or picking up something outside and swallowing it before you can get it; but falling out of 30ft high window potentially to her death is something that shouldn't have happened if the parents were being attentive to her. Even if the window was open, she shouldn't have been left alone that long of a time to be able to pull herself upon it, and then start throwing toys down, and then fall out of it herself.

Okay first off someone stated an 18 month shouldnt be left in the room unsupervised...!!! Do you have kids, dont you have to pee... go make a bottle... check on laundry... Hello life goes on... Okay, so my son is almost 9 months old, he plays in his room a lot of the day, happily... Yes its baby proofed... He climbs in and out of his toddler bed... But I am wrong to leave him in there... No... But again, there is nothing that can hurt him...
For this story though... Okay they had the window open, maybe the day was in the room with the toddler, the baby was in the other room sleeping... And the baby started crying... Automatically you go and check on the baby... Now with having a toddler I would have something on the window... But I forgot the other night that i opened our kitchen window, it wasnt until my husband at about 11 at night, said honey do you want this shut... cause it still gets cold at night...!!! Day... I dont agree upon this... But shit happens all the time... Its not the first time nor will it be the last... I am glad that she is okay...
And the chances for it happening, there are alot of stupid tragic accidents that happen all the time... look at the statistics... It doesnt matter how much you educate parents.. they still make stupid decisions...!!! As all parents will with their kids as they grow up....