Shaina Sykes was walking with two young children in the city of Buffalo. The woman’s sons, Rowan and Nolan, ran to play with the other children. A few minutes later, a scream was heard.
Four-year-old baby Rowan fell into a manhole. At that moment, 12-year-old Sadie Peterson was nearby. A few minutes before the incident, she saw that the boys were moving the manhole cover, and tried to stop them. But the children did not listen. Seeing that the baby fell into the hatch, the girl rushed to help.
“I managed to grab the child by the hand, then I pulled him towards me, and his head was above the water. I was standing at the bottom of the well and was afraid that I would slip and let him out of my hands,” the girl recalls.
Soon the adults ran up, they helped the boy and Sadie get out. “We were just sitting here on the grass, covered with sewage, I was holding my son, rocking and crying, crying and crying,” the boy’s mother recalls.
Rowan’s father took his son and Sadie home to wash up before going to the hospital. The boy was all right, there were only bruises from Sadie’s hands. Doctors advised parents to monitor the condition of their children and, if the temperature rises or a cough begins, seek help.
Later, Shaina found out that Sadie was celebrating her 12th birthday on the day of the incident. “I think if it wasn’t for Sadie, my son would have died. I have no words to thank her,” the boy’s mother said.
