French doctor's 'million-to-one' chance of catching baby who fell from balcony

GP and son just happened to be passing when baby fell 24 metres from apartment balcony in Paris

A French doctor has described how a million-to-one chance led him to catch a baby who had fallen 24 metres (80ft) from a Paris balcony before bouncing off a cafe awning into his arms.

Philippe Bensignor was hailed a hero for saving the 15-month-old child, who had been left alone with his four-year-old sister while their parents reportedly "popped out" for some shopping.

The boy was playing on the balcony of the seventh floor apartment when he fell through the railings, but escaped miraculously without a single scratch.

Bensignor, 58, a GP, said it was pure luck he was passing while out walking with his seven-year-old son Raphaël, last week.

"It was a reflex action. I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to stop the fall of a baby weighing a dozen kilos but I caught him in my arms ... like a rugby ball," he said in an interview with Le Parisien.

"He barely cried but I talked to him gently to calm him down. He ended up going to sleep in my arms before the ambulance arrived."

Bensignor said it was thanks to Raphaël that he saved the falling child.

"We were walking and Raphaël was talking to me ... then he looked up and said: 'Papa, have you seen the children on the balcony up there?' There was no panic in his voice, just astonishment."

He said he looked up just as the baby fell.

The doctor, who once worked in the casualty department of a hospital in the Congo, said he'd been told the baby had suffered no consequences of his ordeal.

"He was playing in his room when I called the hospital," he said.

The toddler's parents have been charged with causing injury through neglect and face a fine or prison sentence if convicted.

Philippe Bensignor insisted he is no hero. "There's one chance in several dozen millions that someone was passing under the balcony when the baby fell.

"It just so happened to be me. I reacted as anyone else in my position would have done. As I say, it's luck ..."