Hero who rescued girl from window ledge says he used cricket skills to catch her

A young girl who dangled for at least nine minutes from a window ledge in Ilford was saved by a ‘complete stranger’ – who said his cricket skills helped him catch her.

The three-year-old was spotted by onlookers clinging to a window on a flat above a pawnbroker’s on Ilford High Road, east London, on Tuesday afternoon.

Fortunately, she was brought to safety by a police officer and a civilian who rushed out of his home to save her.

Father-of-two Mohamed Jesil, the civilian involved in the girl’s rescue, described how the little girl gave him a ‘big hug’ after he ran across rooftops to save her.

The restaurant manager was at home nearby when the alarm was raised.

He told Metro: ‘I ran out on instinct. I’m a dad of twins aged five months, and as a dad I just reacted.

‘I wasn’t scared, I just didn’t think. I’m not a hero, I just did it as a dad seeing a child in trouble.

‘There was massive relief when I managed to catch her; she didn’t say anything, just gave me a big hug. I’m so happy it could help.’

Jesin added that his cricket skills helped him catch the girl. He told Metro: ‘I played cricket in India so that may have helped with my catching. I just knew I had to concentrate.’

Footage posted on social media showed bystanders screaming: ‘Hurry up,’ as a woman appears from a window below, calling and reaching out to her.

The youngster desperately tries to pull herself up as a police officer on a ledge below appears, looking helplessly at the girl.

Jesil then joins efforts to rescue the girl just as her grip begins to fail, and a passerby can be seen below carrying a step ladder.

The men then position themselves directly below the girl and gasps can be heard from the crowd as she falls.

Jesil caught her, with the officer steadying them both as he wobbled and onlookers cheered and clapped below.

‘Well done!’ one shouted. ‘The baby got saved, my God,’ another added.

‘We are so relieved. They saved our child’

The girl’s father described the policeman and the second man who caught her as ‘amazing heroes’.

He told Metro that his daughter was ‘fine’ and would be going to school following the ordeal.

He said that the man who helped the officer in the rescue was a ‘complete stranger’ to them.

He said: ‘They were both amazing. They were heroes. We are so relieved. They saved our child.

‘She is fine thanks to them. We are very grateful. She will be going to school again today [and] we would like to say thanks to those people.’

The relieved dad didn’t reveal how his daughter came to be on the ledge but, asked how she managed to hang on, he added: ‘She’s very strong.’

Shoppers on the high street can be heard questioning why the youngster was hanging off the window and where her parents or guardians are.

It is unclear who the woman or the man in the footage is.

The Met Police said officers arrived at the scene just after 3.20pm,

The force added: ‘Officers were called to Ilford High Road at 3.23pm on Tuesday following concerns for the safety of a child climbing onto a window ledge.

‘The girl was brought to safety by 3.32pm by an attending officer and member of the public.

‘They did not receive any injuries.’

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