Window washer survives fall
SEATTLE – A window washer fell eight stories from a Downtown Seattle building and has nothing more than a broken pinky to show for it.
It was the screams for help that first caught Chad Otis' attention.
"I looked out and saw him right up here and he was hanging on to a rope," said Otis.
At around noon, eight stories high, a window washer was holding on for dear life. Those working at Smashing Ideas Marketing firm, inside of the building at 1601 Second Avenue that houses Nordstrom Rack, rushed to the window, fearing the worst.
"I saw a blur, something falling down," says Mark Buico. who was sitting at his desk looking out the window when it happened.
"I just looked right outside of this window and saw a body go really fast down and we thought he was dead," says Lance Hughes.
But just inches before hitting the ground, something happened.
"The rope was loose for a bit and then tensed up," says Buico.
The safety rope caught the window washer. Otis says it was unbelievable.
"It went from really changing his life and mine a little bit to everything is going to be OK," said Otis.
The man, whose identity has not been released, was taken to Harborview with a broken pinky. He's expected to make a full recovery.
