Sharjah: A girl who survived after plunging six storeys from her apartment block in Sharjah last Thursday said an angel broke her fall.
Egyptian miracle girl Dunia Reda, 6, said: "I was falling fast at first, and very scared, but then I felt someone hold me like I was a baby. I didn't drop as hard as I thought I would."
Dunia was still conscious after hitting the ground. She said she did not see "who saved me" but added "it must have been an angel".
Her father Reda added: "I believe her, it was divine mercy. She keeps telling me about it, she is very excited."
Dunia said she lost her balance after opening a window and leaning out of her building in Nabbah area to chat with children playing downstairs. The window was shut and locked as usual, Reda said, but Dunia "couldn't resist the sounds of children playing and wanted to say hi to them".
She had got up while her mum and baby brothers were still asleep. Reda was in Dubai at the time, at around 10pm last Thursday. She managed to unlock the window and slide it open.
‘I will be careful'
"I won't go near windows again, it's dangerous. I will listen to my parents," she said. Reda added: "We always keep the front door and windows locked. Dunia is a very social girl who loves to play outdoors with friends; she wanted to see the children playing that night."
She was rushed to Kuwaiti Hospital in Sharjah, he added. Dunia is now recovering from her injuries at Al Qasimi Hospital in Sharjah. When XPRESS visited her recently, she appeared to be doing well, playing games on her father's mobile phone and chatting with him.
He said: "Dunia was given a bracelet with ‘Allah' written on it by her mum hours before the fall. She refuses to take it off now, even when she is getting her dressing changed. She is a very spiritual girl, always smiling."
In the Nabbah neighbourhood people are still talking about the death-defying incident. "It's unbelievable indeed. Every day I am stopped by strangers asking me to describe how it happened," said Mohammad Nurul Anwar, the watchman of her building.
Dunia's fall comes on the heels of a string of fatal plunges seeing children toppling out of windows or balconies from high-rises in the UAE. At least 18 children fell last year, with about half a dozen deaths reported in separate incidents. Legal action was taken against parents accused of neglect in at least one case, with authorities warning against leaving children unattended or alone at home. Awareness campaigns highlighting the risks are planned as government officials try to introduce new safety rules and punishments to help prevent such accidents from happening.
