ALERTS
Good Samaritan helps save girl from Phoenix canal
Photographer: KNXV
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Posted: 12/26/2012
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By: Courtney Carlmark
PHOENIX - A Valley family was very thankful to have their little girl safe in their arms on Christmas.
She slipped into a canal on Monday and one man's quick thinking helped save her life.
An ABC15 crew got an exclusive interview with that good Samaritan.
"Just seeing how close she was to the edge, it just caught my eye and literally as I was thinking 'wow she's close,' I saw her slip in," Patrick Harkness said.
The canal walls are really steep and Harkness couldn't reach the 8-year old, but he found the nearest thing that would work.
He grabbed a ladder from someone's backyard.
It was just enough for the little girl to hold onto until rescuers arrived.
Together they formed a human chain and lifted her to safety.
Thinking back to the moment Harkness said, "He was able to grab her and bring her up and then I grabbed her from him and just kind of passed her up a little bit, then somebody behind me grabbed her and we got her out."
Harkness says he was just in the right place at the right time, but for the family of the little girl it was a Christmas gift they'll cherish for a lifetime.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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