An off-duty Houston Fire Department (HFD) cadet caught a toddler as she fell from the balcony of her family’s third-floor apartment in a chance encounter that earned the cadet praise, a local outlet reported Monday.

Zach Johnson was speaking with his mother, Takeya, in the apartment’s parking lot mostly about his day after finishing his third week as a cadet at the HFD Academy when they both spotted Carter, 2, trying to scale the balcony railing, Click2Houston reported.

“She ends up putting one foot on the railing and I’m just like, No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Please don’t do that. Please don’t do that,” Zach Johnson told the outlet.

Takeya Johnson raced up the stairs but the toddler released her grip, lost her balance and fell over the railing. Zach Johnson, who had remained on the ground just below, caught the toddler just in time.