A 26-year-old nanny, who heard a baby scream Monday evening, ran into the backyard of the Hackettstown home where she works, climbed into a 15-foot-deep septic hole and rescued the 3-year-old who was up to her neck in water.



As Luz Jimenez grabbed a rope just before 5:30 Monday afternoon and headed for the hole, someone else called 911, she said this morning outside the home where she works in the 200 block of West Valley View Avenue.



Using the rope, she began to climb into the hole, which was about 1 foot across, she said.



"I didn't even think when I was going to do that. I just jumped right in there," Jimenez said.



Town police Detective Aaron Perkins arrived as Jimenez had worked her way about halfway down to Alison Machigua, who police said walked into her next-door neighbor's yard and fell through the grass-covered hole.

Creating footholds on the way down and being assisted by Perkins, Jimenez jumped the last bit and gathered up the screaming child, she said.



The water was "freezing," Jimenez said. When she reached the baby, Alison was holding onto a metal object near the bottom of the hole, Jimenez said. Only the child's head was above the water, Jimenez said.



Holding the child, Jimenez waited for the town fire department to arrive and put a ladder into the hole so she could carry the child up to safety.



The entire incident took about 15 minutes, town police Sgt. Darren Tynan said.



The child, the daughter of Marlen and Jorge Machigua, of 207 West Valley View Ave., was taken to Hackettstown Regional Medical Center as a precaution but the 3-year-old survived the scare "without a scratch," Jimenez said.



"I'm just so happy today," Jimenez said.