Many years ago, I was working on the roof of my house removing some storm debris when I slipped and fell off of the roof. It was about a ten foot drop but somehow I managed to escape injury.
Getting thrown from the third floor of a shopping mall is one of those injuries that you would think that anyone would have a hard time recovering from.
My dad fell from the second story of a building he was working on once and ended up breaking both of his legs. And he had time to cushion the fall somewhat. When what happened to that little boy in Minnesota happened I kept thinking that there was no way he was going to survive.
When the news first broke of a 4-year-old boy, who was intentionally thrown over a balcony on the third floor of Minnesota’s Mall of America, by a perfect stranger, the nation was in shock. Immediately following the horrific crime, the Star Tribune reported, that according to the Bloomington police, the child suffered “significant injuries.”
The boy was taken by ambulance from the mall to Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis.
Tina Hailey of Burnsville was walking with her husband and had just rounded the corner on the mall’s first floor near Macy’s when she heard screams.
“Oh, my God.” Pray for my son,” she heard the mother yelled out.
The mother screamed uncontrollably and appeared to be in shock, Hailey said.
“She didn’t know what to do. Nobody was helping her,” she added.
Hailey, who has a 4-year-old grandson, said the screams and the sight of those working to resuscitate the boy likely stay with her for some time.
“I won’t forget it. It was horrific,” she said. “I hope he survived.”
24-year-old Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, was arrested and charged with attempted homicide after he was apprehended fleeing the Mall of America via the mall transit station.
Landen, the five-year-old boy who was thrown from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America, is “now alert and conscious,” according to his family.
People – The boy’s family revealed Friday that the boy is no longer in critical condition but does face additional surgeries.
“We are now turning our focus to additional surgeries, healing, rehabilitation and eventually a return home, which we hope will happen by June,” the family wrote in a statement on a GoFundMe page.
The family also thanked the public for all its support.
“We want to personally thank each and every one of you for your love, prayers and support,” the statement read. “We are astounded and so blessed by the over 28,000 individuals and families, from literally around the world, that have donated to our GoFundMe page. Your love and generosity overwhelms and means so much to us! We have no idea where we would be without you – God and your prayers have sustained us.”
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