LAUDERHILL, FLA. (WSVN) - An 11-month-old boy was taken to the hospital after, officials said, he fell from a third-story window in Lauderhill, Friday afternoon.
Lauderhill Police and Fire Rescue responded to the scene of the incident, near Northwest 55th Avenue and 17th Way. Officials said the infant was somehow able to push a screen out of a bedroom window and then tumbled to the ground, at around 4:15 p.m.
“I heard, like, a loud booming sound,” said a witness. “Then everyone is running outside, like, ‘Oh!'”
“I saw the lady come outside and, pretty much, she was like screaming.” said another witness. “I was inside of my home at first, and I just heard screaming. I didn’t come outside at first. My little brother came inside and told me that he saw blood on the floor.”
Lauderhill Police Maj. Rick Rocco said the victim was able to reach the window because he got on the bed. “The bed in this bedroom is almost literally up against the window, and it appears that the child got up on the bed, toward the window, and pushed the screen out,” he said.
Officials said the child hit an overhang before he fell on the pavement. Family members hurried to the scene and got on their phones.
7News cameras captured frantic loved ones near the spot where the child landed. “I can’t talk right now,” said one man.
Meanwhile, neighbors hoped for the best. “It’s sad, you know?” said Doris Matthews.
Another area resident said the accident could have been prevented. “I think it’s terrible. I think the baby should have been watched a little bit more closely,” she said.
Fortunately, Rocco said, the child was conscious at the time paramedics transported him to Broward Health Medical Center. “The child was responsive. He was crying when they transported him, which is hopefully a good sign,” he said.
Officials said the child suffered some head injuries, and he remains at the hospital in serious condition.
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