Spring, Texas – Any parent knows, it only takes a split second for a child to get into something. A Spring family is counting its blessings after an off-duty Houston Fire Department cadet caught their two-year-old toddler after falling from a three-story balcony.
Bill Armstrong Junior and his wife Chase have three children: Brayden 6, Carter 2 and Parker 2-months-old. So, home life can be chaotic; but after a recent near-death experience for little Carter the family isn’t complaining about the chaos.
“I’m more appreciative than I ever was before that I felt like I took some days for granted,” Chase Armstrong shared.
It was a Friday afternoon and Chase was home with the three kids.
“My husband was at work and the baby started crying,” explained Chase. “This one went out the door … I told him to come inside. I realized Carter wasn’t with him. I heard banging on the front door.”
Frantically searching for Carter, Chase ignored the knock at the door until the banging got louder.
“And when I opened the door, there was a lady that I had never seen before telling me that my baby fell over the balcony,” Chase recalled.
The mother of three would later learn the stranger at the door was Takeya Johnson. Her son, Zach Johnson just saved little Carter’s life.
Rewind a few minutes. Takeya and Zach were in the parking lot talking, mostly about Zach’s day at Houston Fire Department Academy. That afternoon Zach completed his third week as a cadet.
“While we were talking, I noticed a little girl come on the balcony and I just kind of kept my eye on her a little bit. And we kept talking,” explained Takeya Johnson.
Until Carter starts climbing the railing. Takeya runs to the stairwell and sprints up the stairs. Zach darts to the spot on the ground, three stories below the balcony.
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“She ends up putting one foot on the railing and I’m just like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Please don’t do that. Please don’t do that,” Zach Johnson said.
But little Carter did.
“She kind of like opens her hands where she’s not kind of having support on the on the railing and she loses her balance and falls off.” Explained Zach as he opened his arms. “I fell all the way down to my knees, scuffed up my pants. I start palpating her, making sure, you know, she was responsive, she was crying. So, on her airway was fine, you know, making sure her spine was fine.”
At about the same time, Chase reached the bottom of the stairs and was reunited with Carter. 911 was called. Carter was examined, monitored and cleared.
“That was probably the fastest, slowest moment of my entire life.”
And emotional, especially for Zach’s mom Takeya, who witnessed her son’s first save.
“Getting to watch him do something to that magnitude, and watching that lady have her daughter, that was just awesome. And I never forget, I told them this. I mean, proud is not the word. There is nothing else. I mean, you can’t beat that, you saved somebody’s life,” cried Takeya Johnson.
Chase has thanked Zach hundreds of times and has referred to him as a hero.
“That’s a big compliment. I can be called a hero. They love me. Everything. I’m grateful that, you know, Carter is alive. That’s the most top tier thing. But what I’m personally most proud of, besides saving her life is the fact that I didn’t freeze in the moment knowing that I. This is my calling and I am right for the job,” explained Zach.
For Chase, this is her first holiday season without her mother who passed away after a short battle with cancer.
“I lost my mom on Mother’s Day this year. And so when the sheriff told me I had one hell of a guardian angel looking over me, all I could do is cry and tell him, you know, I feel like my mom put you there in that moment for a reason,” explained Chase.
With a guardian angel above and one on the ground, Chase is thankful and grateful.
“Any time that I’m home with the three, I do ask for additional help just until I kind of get more used to it. I mean, I’ve only been doing it for two months now. It just humbled me to know that, you know, don’t place judgment on others and make sure that you always have your head on a rotation.”
The incident caught the attention of Houston Fire Department’s top brass.
Mike Brown Houston Fire Department Chief of Professional Development proudly said, “You could see something in the textbook. But the way he reacted, I mean, it’s just instinctual. I mean, it’s you know, again, this kid, I have that calling, and he presents every bit of that.”
