A toddler who fell from a third-floor balcony in Kelowna on Saturday morning sustained serious injuries, according to local police.
Kelowna RCMP say the two-year-old boy fell from an apartment building on the 100 block of Gerstmar Road in Rutland at approximately 7 a.m.
Police say a neighbor, who was awakened by her barking dogs, heard the toddler screaming as she went outside to investigate.
“He must have tumbled right over while throwing the boxes off,” Amanda Beaudry told Global News, pointing to where she found diaper boxes on the grass.
Beaudry said she found the boy by a chain-link fence at the side of the property where her brother lives next door to her.
“I have no idea who this little boy is. I thought somebody tossed him over the fence or he climbed over the fence… I thought maybe someone just abandoned him here,” she said. “I did not think to look up.”
The boy had fallen on the fence and then bounced onto the ground where a small ceramic pagoda broke his fall and shattered to pieces, she told Global News at the scene.
“He was responsive. He was looking at me, you know, like ‘Save me’,” she said.
Beaudry picked up the child and brought him into her apartment.
“I said, ‘Mommy’s coming. You’re going to be OK, you’re going to be OK,'” she said. “I held his face and the mom did eventually come.”
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The boy was rushed to hospital. His health status is unknown. Beaudry said his mother is by his side.
Police were told that it was necessary for the child to be airlifted to B.C. Children’s Hospital for advanced medical care.
Beaudry has learned the boy suffered a fractured skull and injury to his spleen.
The child had scratches, a ripped shirt, a cut behind his ear and a goose egg-sized lump on the back of his head, she said.
Beaudry believes safety measures should be in place when children are a balcony.
“There are safety locks on all our balcony doors,” she said.
Police say they are continuing their investigation and have notified the Ministry of Child and Family Development.
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