A Rockaway woman escaped injury when a falling tree narrowly missed hitting her as she walked into her home early this morning.

It started as a pretty routine Monday morning for Shannon Leahy. She walked her dog and took out a bucket of recyclables around 6:30 a.m. Moments later, the day took a turn as Leahy heard a noise coming from a tree-lined area near her home. Her mother, Jean O'Reilly, says at first, Leahy thought she heard a bear, so she briefly froze in place. But a split-second later she looked up and saw a tree toppling over.

Leahy yelled and quickly jumped out of the way just as the tree fell near the porch area, right where she had been standing a second earlier. Leahy's car was also spared. It turns out, she had parked a little further back than usual.

"I found it heart stopping (I am her mother after all). She always parks her car there so for some odd reason she had it moved back," O'Reilly told News 12.

The family dog, who was also outside at the time, managed to escape unharmed as did Leahy's 4-year-old daughter who was inside the house, still in bed when the ordeal unfolded.