A 7-year-old girl with autism was taken to the hospital with injuries Monday morning after she fell two stories from a Bronx apartment building, authorities said.
The girl fell from the building on Andrews Avenue near West 183rd Street in University Heights at about 3:30 a.m. Monday, police said.
The girl might have been chasing a cat on a fire escape when she fell, according to the NYPD.
Authorities initially said that the girl fell four stories, but later said she was on a second-story fire escape when she fell.
After lying on the ground for about 15 minutes, she was able to get up and knock on neighbor Sandra Crespo's door, but collapsed again soon after. Crespo told NBC 4 New York she had heard the impact of the girl's fall -- first hearing the knocking, and then groaning.
"When I looked out the window, I saw her feet, I thought, 'oh, my God, it's a kid,'" she said.
Crespo's 13-year-old son climbed through their first-floor window, she said. He saw the girl bleeding from her mouth, picked her up and brought her to safety.
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"She was limping a lot. So I just helped her walk a little bit, I put her on over my shoulders and make her walk better," said Daniel Castro.
A family that lives in the neighborhood believes it was their cat Black she was chasing.
"I can understand why she was trying to go, she loves kitties. She was probably trying to just rescue him," said young Destiny Matthews.
The girl was taken to NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. She was alert and conscious, but bleeding from her injuries, police said.
The girl's sister told NBC 4 New York said she has minor injuries.
"She's OK, she's alive and breathing and everything," she said.
No criminality is suspected. The building's superintendent claimed the fourth-floor fire window has a safety gate but police are investigating.
"It shows how unsafe buildings can be. I do hope that the building can be made safer for kids," said Castro.
