Italian banker turns real-life hero as he uses his body to soften 3-yr-old girl's fall from the 5th-floor

Not all heroes wear capes, and Mattia Aguzzi, an Italian banker, certainly counts as one. Well, Aguzzi and his girlfriend were walking to a bakery when he heard somebody screaming from an apartment. Upon investigation, he realized a little girl, all of 3 years old, had climbed over the ledge of the family's fifth-floor balcony, SKY News reported. The man realized he had to step in to rescue the little girl, and thank goodness he did, because he ended up saving her life.

"I heard a man scream when he saw the little girl leaning out on the ledge. The little girl kept leaning more and more and climbed over the ledge. She held on only with two arms, and her legs were in the air," the banker said. Aguzzi was obviously scared for the toddler, so he started yelling at her, asking her to stay still and go back inside, but she didn't hear him. "When I saw her fall, I stepped in the way, closed my eyes, and hoped that everything was going to be for the best. I blocked her by cushioning the blow, and we both fell to the ground," he said. At first, Aguzzi was scared because he couldn't feel any movement, but then he heard the girl crying. "I breathed a sigh of relief," he recalled.

The girl and the Italian banker were immediately rushed to a hospital and treated for minor injuries. The man's heroic rescue story reached Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who just couldn't stop praising him. "What could have turned into a tragedy was the incident of a little girl who fell from the 5th floor of a balcony in a building in Turin. But thanks to the quick thinking of Mattia Aguzzi, who saw her plummeting and grabbed her on the fly, her life was saved. So much honor and gratitude to this young hero," she wrote on X. 

In fact, Stefano Lo Russo, the mayor of Turin, even called Aguzzi to present him Gold Medal for Civil Valor to honor his bravery, but he politely declined it. "Don't call me a hero. I did everything so naturally. I didn't think of anything and tried to do what had to be done. Destiny put us there. Chance, fate. As far as I know, we're all fine. And this, believe me, is the most beautiful thing," he said. Moreover, he joked that his body weight helped him in that situation.

Reacting to the wholesome story from 28 August 2023, @accountablerep commented, "Fundamental human nature is to help in times of need. Yes, some are evil, but we outnumber them. And yes, this man is a hero, no matter what he says." @margaretadiaco1 said, "He is a good person! A right person at the right moment! The angel of the little girl! So beautiful, when we see it in this crazy world, wonderful people like this one! Chapeau bas!" @tikisrose said, "He may not want to be called a hero, but that is exactly what he is to that little girl and her family. He saved her life with no thought of injuring himself."

Similarly, @gerardryannl wrote, "He did what needed to be done. Thank Mattia and God for his quick action in saving the child. May you and the child be forever blessed, Mattia." @2001_italia shared, "He was brave. A similar thing happened years ago, again in Italy, and the guy was paralyzed from the waist down. He saved the girl, though." @pit_bull_kisses wrote, "Wow! That would be scary on so many levels. Even if he doesn’t want to be called a hero, he very much is a hero to that little girl and her family."

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