Mother Hopes Son's Fall Is A Lesson Learned
BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities boy took a terrible fall out a window last year, and now he's telling his story for the first time.
Calen Greer and his mother, Liandrea Greer, don't want other children from getting hurt too.
"It really, really hurt," said 4-year-old Calen about his fall. "I fell out the window backwards."
He fell 14 feet from a window at his grandparent's home in Brooklyn Park. It happened May 1, 2010.
Doctors at Regions Hospital and Gillette Children's Hospital said it's one of the worst falls they've ever dealt with.
"It was definitely very, very scary for him and myself," said Calen's mother. "Sorry to get a little emotional still about it. A year later, and it's still really hard to talk and deal with."
Calen was playing with his cousins when he broke through the screen. He fell onto the concrete below. He was crying and bleeding at first, but his condition was actually much worse than his mother realized.
"I looked down and his head was just so big, so swollen. Instantly we knew something was wrong," said his mother.
Calen suffered a brain injury and several skull fractures. He went straight into surgery when he got to the hospital. He worked with therapists at Gillette Children's Hospital and at Regions Hospital in St. Paul. He has since regained much of his abilities.
But besides the pain from the fall, and the scar you can see from surgery, Calen has emotional issues that doctors will watch as he grows up.
Other children across the country have also fallen through screens. About 4,000 get hurt this way every year, and about a dozen children die.
During the past five years, 37 children have been admitted to the Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center atRegions Hospital and Gillette Children's Hospital after falling out of a home window. There were seven cases in 2010.
Liandrea Greer said she knows she could have lost her son. She hopes her experience is a learning experience for other parents.
She recommends buying a window lock that will keep a child from opening the window. They cost a few bucks, and you can fine one at a hardware store.
