“And Just Think, I Did It All in My Flip-Flops”

On 1 July 2012, Kristen Beach, age 21, heard screams across the street from her apartment building in downtown Medford, Oregon. A two-year-old boy was screaming as he hung onto a small lip around the edge of the roof of a three-story residence. She ran across the street. She said, “He was crying when he was up there. I could see the tears and the snot running down his face.” She said to the boy, “It’s OK, baby. If you fall, I will catch you.” Ms. Beach remembered, “I was completely ready. But I was terrified.” She caught him. Ms. Beach said, “I asked if he was hurt: ‘Do you have owies?’ I was crying right along with him.” The two-year-old boy was checked out by medical personnel and had no injuries. Medford Police Sergeant D.J. Graham said, “It’s amazing. The baby was really calm when we arrived on the scene.” Ms. Beach said, “Everybody kept patting me on the shoulders and saying, ‘You’re my hero.’” The boy’s mother was grateful. Ms. Beach said, “She just hugged me and said, ‘Thank you, thank you.’” Ms. Beach has a two-year-old child of her own. She said, “If my baby was in the same predicament, I would hope somebody else would do the same thing.” One thing did stick out to her: “And just think, I did it all in my flip-flops.”