A baby girl has survived a fall from the fourth floor of a hotel balcony in Florida thanks to a British tourist who caught her just before she hit the ground.

The 16-month-old toddler, Jah-Nea Myles, had slipped through railings on the balcony of the Econo Lodge Hotel in Orlando, Florida. Holidaymaker Helen Beard spotted the toddler dangling from the balcony, but managed to save her from falling to certain death.

The girl hit the third-floor railing on the way down, but survived without so much as a bruise. She was even described as “playful” afterwards.

Her 20-year-old mother, Helena, told reporters: “I’m thanking the Lord above right now for saving my child’s life. I’m also thanking that lady because she was an angel sent from Heaven.”

A spokesman for Orange County Sheriff’s Office described it simply as “a miracle”.

Mrs Beard, 44, was by the pool when she looked up and saw a child hanging from the fourth-floor railing. She ran underneath the falling toddler, held out her arms and caught the little girl.

According to Reuters, Jah-Nea slipped out of her arms and hit the ground, but then Mrs Beard picked her up and held her until paramedics arrived.

Meanwhile her mother heard screaming and rushed out to the balcony. She looked down to see her daughter in Mrs Beard’s arms.

The child’s mother said: “She’s perfectly fine. Not a scratch on her body.”

A witness told Reuters: “It was a lot of screaming. You knew something was wrong - something major, major was wrong.”