Seven-month-old safely caught by neighbour after being dropped from second storey of Sydney apartment block

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A young man says he caught a baby girl thrown from a burning western Sydney apartment “like a football”.

Kristy Morton says she was terrified as she dropped her seven-month-old daughter from the window of the second-level Blacktown unit on Tuesday morning but said she had no other option.

“I was freaking out, I was so scared,” Morton said. “I just looked down and dropped her.”

Emergency services were called to Bruce Street residence just after 7.30am to find the unit engulfed in flames.

Tony Finn, a neighbour who was standing on the street below the burning building, said his hands were shaking as waited for Morton to drop little Nevaeh Roze Hayes.

“I was a bit shaky because I was doubting myself, whether I could catch her or not,” Finn said.

He and another neighbour had prepared by stretching a blanket out between them but in the end he said catching Nevaeh ended up being quite simple: “I caught her like a football.”

The 23-year-old then ran to his shed to get a ladder for Morton and her partner, Luke, to climb down to safety.

While Nevaeh was uninjured, police said four people had been taken to hospital suffering smoke inhalation and four others were treated at the scene.

Finn said he didn’t believe he had done anything out of the ordinary. “I wouldn’t be called a hero, anyone in the same situation would have done the same thing,” he said.

The unit has been gutted and Morton and her daughter are now staying in temporary accommodation.

Initial inquiries have led police to believe the fire was not suspicious.

