Mom, daughter survive stairwell collapse at northeast Atlanta apartment complex

ATLANTA — A young mother and her 4-year-old daughter survived a frightening stairwell collapse at a northeast Atlanta apartment complex.

"I was screaming, 'Help! Save us!'" Eirckeyanna Edwards told Channel 2's Christian Jennings.

On May 23, she and her daughter were having a great day. They were headed out for her birthday party when they both suddenly fell through the stairwell floor at the Bedford Pines Apartments.

"The only thing in my mind was like, hold Aubree, don’t let Aubree fall," she said.

Erickeyanna cradled her daughter in her arms as tight as she could as the stairwell collapsed and they dropped 12 feet.

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"The way we landed I landed on the rail so the rail was holding on to us so you didn’t actually hit the ground," she said.

Her injuries are difficult to look at. The pole went through part of her arm. Erickeyanna has numbness in her arm.

Miraculously, Aubree only has a few scrapes on her knees but she's terrified of stairs now.

Aubree's grandmother Johnetta Edwards knows they're both blessed to even be here to share their story.

"It could have been prevented if they would have checked these stairwells, they’re very old," she said.

Channel 2 reached out to the apartment management group by email. We're still waiting on a response.

Cox Media Group