Audio By Carbonatix
BY Michael J. Feeney, Barry Paddock and Rich Schapiro
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Here's New York's luckiest little girl.
In the first photo of Zaniyah Alexander since she was dangled outside a burning Bronx high-rise, the adorable 7-month-old girl shows no signs of her terrifying ordeal.
There's not a scratch on her face, not a mark on either of her tiny hands.
"My baby is doing fine," Zaniyah's mother, Saschelle Hewitt, said before she cradled her beaming daughter in her arms. "She's the only one without bumps and bruises."
Hewitt credits Zaniyah's survival to her quick-thinking cousin, Vanessa Scott.
"She put her through the window because she couldn't breathe in that black stuff," Hewitt, 22, said. "She saved Zaniyah's life."
Hewitt was taking a shower inside her fifth-floor Pelham Parkway apartment Monday when she heard several of her relatives screaming.
"Fire!" someone yelled. "Oh my God! Oh my God!"
Hewitt bolted out of the bathroom and grabbed her 2-year-old daughter, Neveah. Scott scooped up Zaniyah.
All four became trapped in Hewitt's bedroom. Thick smoke poured into the room.
"It was pitch black," Hewitt said. "We started breaking the windows with our hands so we could breathe and scream for help because no one could find their phones.
"I thought none of us was going to make it out. We were screaming for help, and it was like no one was caring."
At first, Scott put only Zaniyah's head out the window. Concerned her baby cousin might still suffocate in the smoke, Scott placed the infant's entire body through the opening.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Comments, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform do not necessarily represent the views or policy of Multimedia Group Limited.
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