Watch: Arkansas firefighter rescues 4-year-old girl after she fell out of a bus

A 4-year-old girl is recovering in the hospital after falling out of the back of a moving bus Saturday, and the horrifying incident was caught on video.

Licensed EMT and volunteer firefighter Ryan Ciampoli was driving on a busy highway in Harrison, Arkansas, when he saw the young girl swing the back door of the bus open, hanging on for a brief moment before toppling onto the pavement. His dash camera happened to be running as he witnessed the accident and immediately sprang into action.

Ciampoli told KLRT-TV that the girl was initially unconscious but began waking up as he approached her.

"Obviously, you want to leave her laying there if she's not in danger, but we're in the middle of a state highway so I couldn't leave her just laying there," he said.

He carefully picked her up and laid her in a nearby truck bed where he assessed her condition and kept her conscious before the paramedics could arrive.

"Once the adrenaline and the shock kicked in in her little body, she started kicking and screaming, and 'Where's my mommy,' things like that. Stuff like that is really heartbreaking," Ciampoli said.

The young girl suffered a broken jaw and will need surgery, according to her mother, but she is expected to be released from the hospital Monday.

It is unclear how the little girl managed to open the back door or why the bus driver did not stop when she fell.