Police: Jogger Saves Kids After Stroller Falls Into Reservoir

Police in Brookline, Mass. say the babies have been taken to a hospital to be checked out

Two children in a stroller that rolled face-first into the Brookline Reservoir were rescued by a passing jogger, according to police in Brookline, Massachusetts.

A double stroller with the two kids inside, aged 18 months and 4, rolled right into the water just after 4 p.m. Monday because the brakes weren't on, police said. The parents were briefly distracted, according to police.

"My first lap, I noticed a family — three women, two husbands, and three or four little kids, two in a stroller," said the rescuer, who only wanted to be identified as Rebecca. "In my second lap, from about a hundred yards away, I noticed the women had their backs turned, with the stroller moving towards the reservoir."

They rolled right down the steep embankment and into the water, and Rebecca, a former lifeguard, went in after them.

"The children were buckled in, and at that point it was water-logged, so one of the women jumped in, but she couldn't really swim, so I tried to help, but she ended up grabbing on me," Rebecca said.

The carriage was face down in the water. Luckily, police say, two others nearby also ran to help Rebecca.

"I was like, 'I hope I hear them cry, I hope I hear them cry.' As soon as I flipped it, one of the little girls started to cry," she said.

Others who walk the popular path around the reservoir say they could see how this could happen.

"It's a cement wall that goes down into the water. If you have anyone in a wheelchair, or stroller or anything, they can go in," said walker Will Carli.

Brookline Police don't believe the parents were negligent, and while the incident is still under investigation, they say it was just an accident. They're just pleased things turned out the way they did.

"One word I can use is unbelievable. I think God has a plan. There's a higher power that has a plan, and she was meant to be it today to save those kids," Brookline Police Sgt. Robert Disario said.

The children were taken to Children's Hospital in Boston out of precaution but are said to be okay.

Rebecca is only in town for her father's birthday and lives in New York.

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