Hero off-duty doctor rushed to help pregnant mum who fell to her death from 9th floor window as newborn fights for life
A HERO off-duty doctor rushed to help a heavily pregnant mum who fell to her death from a tower block – as her newborn baby fights for life.
Emma Atkinson plunged 90ft from the ninth floor of Shakespeare Towers in Leeds on Tuesday morning.
Her baby, who has been named Posie, was delivered in hospital five-weeks premature and is now receiving critical care.
Following the horror, an off-duty doctor living in the 17-storey tower helped provide vital first aid to mum-of-five Emma, in her 30s.
Israel Larbi, 37, told how his wife Nana, 33, a doctor at Leeds General Infirmary, was left shaken by the tragedy.
Mr Larbi, who lives in the flat next door to the one from which Emma fell, said: “She’s a doctor. She was at home when it happened.
“She heard a noise on the corridor – a lot of shouting. She looked through the doorhole and saw the man who lives next door.
“He was pressing the lift. She opened the door and he told her that his daughter had fallen.
“So she went in the lift to join him downstairs. She went down to assist with the CPR with the medics.
“She’s not taken it too well. The whole thing has been traumatising for her.
“She called me today to say she needed to come home from work.”
Emma was tragically pronounced dead at the scene on Shakespeare Approach in the Burmantofts area of the city.
Rest in paradise mama
Demi
Arriving home from work, Nana said she was too shaken to relive the tragedy, but said: “I just did what I could”.
Residents in the high-rise told of their shock at the death and questioned why the windows had safety catches that could be over-ridden, allowing them to be opened more widely.
Dave Capper, 66, who has lived at Shakespeare Tower for 26 years, said there had been a previous death from height at the complex.
He said: “The windows do have safety features on them. You can only open them so far.
“But there’s a little catch you can press in and they will open to halfway.
“You’d have to be a small person but you could get out. It’s not very safe, really.
“It’s not the first time someone has fallen from a window here about five or six years ago.
“I didn’t know Emma personally but it is tragic.”
‘PERFECT’ MUM
Flowers and tributes today continued to be laid outside the high-rise.
Emma’s daughter Demi left a message to her ” perfect” mum.
It read: “Rest in paradise mama. You was one of a kind. I miss you more than anything already, 2 perfect for this world.
“I love you forever. Love your girl.”
Another note from a friend added: “My Em. You was definitely too perfect for this world.
“I promise I’ll always make your sure babies are ok and looked after. I miss you so much.”
Another card said: “If only your new [sic] how much you was loved”.
One pal arriving to lay flowers described her as “bubbly”, “outgoing” and “a friend to everyone”.
She said: “She lit up a room. She always bounced in and bounced back out.
“She loved her kids, absolutely. It’s just tragic.
“It is a miracle that her baby survived. She’s obviously strong like her mum has been all her life.”
Friends also released balloons from outside the tower block on Wednesday.
Emma’s final Facebook post, from a month ago, showed her posing in a mirror and showing off her baby bump while a child hugs her legs.
She confirmed in the comments that she was due in 10 weeks at the time.
She wrote: “It’s a girl, couldn’t be happier.”
Cops said there were “no suspicious circumstances” in Emma’s death.
A West Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “At 10.24am, police were contacted by the ambulance service who had been called to an incident where a woman had fallen from height at Shakespeare Towers, in Shakespeare Approach, Burmantofts.
“The woman died at the scene as result of her injuries.
“There were no suspicious circumstances and the Coroner’s Office has been informed.
“The woman, aged in her thirties, was in the late stage of pregnancy and her baby was delivered at hospital after the incident and is receiving critical care.”
Wakefield coroner’s court confirmed it has received a file in relation to Emma’s death.