A woman trapped inside a burning apartment trusted a stranger with her child's life Saturday morning when she dropped the infant from a second-story window and into the sure and steady hands of a man who happened to be there only because he'd been called into work early.

Jeff Bryant, who lives in an adjacent building, was walking to his car with a cup of coffee when he heard the faint sound of an alarm. Curious, he walked toward an alley.

Stunned, he saw thick black smoke pouring from a second-story window. And then, emerging from the smoke, he saw a woman holding an infant out the window, grasping the child's small hand in hers.

(WATCH the video below, or READ the story and at Oregon Live)