Jennifer Marrow.Photo: Good Morning America Twitter
A New Jersey mother is speaking out aftersaving her toddler from a playground manhole.
Jennifer Marrow said she didn’t think twice about jumping into the dark manhole after her 2-year-old son Henry fell inside and disappeared, according toGood Morning America.
“There was no other option. There was no other choice,” she told the outlet. “There was no waiting. I don’t think any mother would have waited.”
AsPEOPLE previously reported, Marrow was playing with Henry at Kawameeh Park in Union on Sept. 23 when he suddenly disappeared.
“I picked up a football and I was actually faced, looking at him because I don’t want to get him used to just running off and not paying attention,” Marrow explained toGMA.
A manhole in a park.Getty
As it turned out, Henry had fallen approximately seven feet down into an open manhole, which had two feet of sewage water at the bottom, reaching up to his chin, Chief Michael Scanio with the Union Fire Department (UFD) previously confirmed to PEOPLE.
Marrow toldGMAit wasn’t until she heard Henry calling her name that she realized where he was — a moment she said seemed like a complete blur.
“I just know that he was there and then he was gone,” said the mom, who explained that she then called 911 before the water began to pull Henry down the tunnel and out of her sight.
“I jumped in because he had now gone down the pipe,” Marrow recalled toGMA. “And when I couldn’t see his face anymore, I got in, crawled down the pipe.”
“I couldn’t see, but then his head went under and I couldn’t see him, so I had to pop back up and turn on my flashlight,” she went on. “I was crawling down to get him because it was too dark down the pipe.”
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Marrow was eventually able to grab her son and proceeded to lift them both out of the manhole to safety.
By the time they made it back to the ground surface, officials with the Union Fire Department had arrived and were ready to treat the pair.
He also noted that the Union County Police and Union County Department of Public Works (DPW) were going to check the manholes in the park and at other locations within Union Township to ensure none were missing their covers.
Speaking toGMA, Marrow said she hopes city officials will learn from her incident to prevent something similar from happening again.
“I’d like to see cones, maybe a different color, maybe flags,” she explained to the outlet.
In the time since that terrifying day, Marrow’s son has been recovering and has undergone several tests and treatments at the hospital, according toGMA.
source: people.com
