PC-GUY
1
Canopy saves life of Lauderdale woman who falls 9 stories
By Brian Haas
Staff Writer
May 12, 2005
Call it "Miracle on [Northeast] 34th Street."
Gloria Jummati plummeted about 100 feet from her ninth-floor balcony Wednesday morning at the Coral Ridge Towers in east Fort Lauderdale. But instead of hitting the ground, the 69-year-old woman landed on a small canopy and survived with a shoulder injury.
Her landing was perfect: exactly in the middle of the canopy, where two aluminum pipes meet. The pipes bent and cradled her body, stopping her just feet from the ground. The canvas didn't even rip.
"It definitely saved her life," said Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Division Chief James Sheehan.
An inch or two off, and it would have been a different story.
Jummati declined interviews through a spokeswoman at Broward General Medical Center.
Sgt. Andy Pallen, spokesman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, said Jummati, a snowbird, somehow fell while cleaning her condo balcony at 3333 NE 34th St. in preparation for a return trip north.
"She's very, very lucky," Pallen said. "She'd better go buy a lottery ticket." <cite>South Florida Sun-Sentinel</cite>
By Brian Haas
Staff Writer
May 12, 2005
Call it "Miracle on [Northeast] 34th Street."
Gloria Jummati plummeted about 100 feet from her ninth-floor balcony Wednesday morning at the Coral Ridge Towers in east Fort Lauderdale. But instead of hitting the ground, the 69-year-old woman landed on a small canopy and survived with a shoulder injury.
Her landing was perfect: exactly in the middle of the canopy, where two aluminum pipes meet. The pipes bent and cradled her body, stopping her just feet from the ground. The canvas didn't even rip.
"It definitely saved her life," said Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Division Chief James Sheehan.
An inch or two off, and it would have been a different story.
Jummati declined interviews through a spokeswoman at Broward General Medical Center.
Sgt. Andy Pallen, spokesman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, said Jummati, a snowbird, somehow fell while cleaning her condo balcony at 3333 NE 34th St. in preparation for a return trip north.
"She's very, very lucky," Pallen said. "She'd better go buy a lottery ticket." <cite>South Florida Sun-Sentinel</cite>