3-Year-Old Falls Out Of Bronx Apartment Window After Squeezing Past Air Conditioning Unit
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A 3-year-old girl was recovering Sunday, hours after tumbling out of a window in her family's Bronx apartment.
The frightening fall left her with severe injuries.
CBS2's Dave Carlin spoke exclusively with the girl's father about the terrifying ordeal.
Kaddijattou Darboe has fractures and internal bleeding after falling about 20 feet from her family's second-floor apartment in Mount Eden.
The incident happened on Saturday evening. The little girl landed on a section of sidewalk along Jesup Avenue.
But the window was not open. None of them were. The toddler pulled open the accordion flap to one side of the window's air-conditioning unit in the living room.
The girl's father, Sajor Darboe, said he was in the kitchen while his daughter, who he describes as very active and a handful, was working her way through the flap.
In the living room, he said he was shocked to find three kids instead of four.
His 6-year-old daughter told him the bizarre way Kah'dee squeezed through and out past the window AC unit.
Recounting the incident made him cry.
"She told me, 'She's out the window.' I asked her 'Where is Kah'dee?'" the father said.
He said he must stay strong for his injured daughter and all his children.
The native of Gambia came to the United States in 2003. He works maintenance at a fast-food restaurant, and is a single dad. He was widowed back in May after his wife lost her battle with liver cancer.
He said the AC unit will never go back in the window. He's getting a floor model.
There are ways to put extra barriers around window AC units. Experts say to always screw in the accordion flaps, and you can add to them with sturdier material, like wood on both sides.
The father said parents should learn from what happened to him. Though his daughter survived, he realizes the next child might not.