A 69-year-old woman fell nine stories from her Fort Lauderdale balcony Wednesday morning, surviving with only this complaint: ''My shoulder hurts.''
The key to Gloria Jummati's survival: a green canopy supported by a metal frame that broke her fall -- and maybe one other thing.
''Angels had floated her down,'' said Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Lt. Shari Marshall. ''That was pretty much all we could come up with.''
Jummati was leaning over the 42-inch-high balcony of her Coral Ridge Towers South co-op shortly before 8 a.m., got dizzy and fell 90 feet, she told rescuers.
She said she had been up all night packing to return to the Chicago area with Merle, her husband of 40 years. They also have a home in the Chicago suburbs.
Jummati was taken to Broward General Medical Center with injuries to her right arm and shoulder. Police said her injuries were not life-threatening.
Jummati's fall was the talk of the building at 3333 NE 34th St., where she and her husband have owned a unit since 1998. The now-torn canopy became a place for residents to gather and gawk in amazement.
Resident Ron Fleming told Herald news partner WFOR-CBS4 that he was walking through the parking lot when he saw what he thought was a roll of carpet falling from several stories up.
Then, he heard someone yelling that a woman was in the awning.
'You don't expect someone to say to you, 'There's a woman in the awning,' '' he told WFOR.
Neighbor Frank Martino had stepped out on his 14th floor balcony to enjoy his morning cup of coffee when he spotted Jummati more than 100 feet below.
She was sprawled motionless on the green, 10-foot by 6-foot canvas awning, stretched over an area used to store bocce equipment and other items.
''My first thought was, she was gone,'' said Martino, whose view usually includes State Road A1A, the tall buildings of Galt Ocean Mile and the Atlantic Ocean.
Rescue workers initially thought they were responding to a call about someone falling inside an apartment. But when rescue arrived, they realized that Jummati had fallen from her apartment.
Marshall, the lieutenant, quickly climbed a ladder to the canopy, on the north side of the building, eight feet off the ground.
There was Jummati, lying on her right side, awake.
The rescue team cut the canvas that caught her and lowered her to a backboard and stretcher.
''Whoever made the canopy,'' Martino said, ''did a great job.''
It was like ''threading a needle'' for Jummati to fall onto the canopy in the spot she did and have it hold her 145-or-so pounds, said Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue Assistant Chief Stephen McInerny. ''The awning, without a doubt, broke the fall and saved her, making this more likely than not the luckiest day in her 69 years,'' McInerny said.
Distributed by the Associated Press
