E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSView more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.
A child fell out a window on the ninth floor of an apartment building in Silver Spring, Md., Thursday afternoon, according to Montgomery County police.
A tree helped break the four-year-old boy's fall, which occurred at about 3:15 p.m., NBCWashington.com reported.
The woman who found the child said he was crying in a bush. She did not know who his family was, and so called 911, Stone reported.
Student survives 11-story fall from dorm room at Washington State University
He suffered head injuries and a broken femur and was taken to Children’s Hospital in a serious condition, according to Montgomery County Fire and Rescue.
Family members were in the apartment when the boy fell, Stone reported.
Police and Child Protective Services staff are investigating the circumstances of the fall.
More content from NBCNews.com:
- Panetta: Cyber intruders have already infiltrated US systems
- Dottie Sandusky in letter to judge: 'Jerry is not the monster'
- Firefighters in pink? Bristol, Conn., mayor now OK with cancer fundraiser
- BP, Obama administration reportedly near deal on Gulf spill
- Stun gun used on pizza deliveryman leads to jail instead of food
- Why did environmental nonprofit donate to conservative pro-coal group?
Follow US news from NBCNews.com on Twitter and Facebook
Leave a Comment:
How people can stand to live in those multi-story rabbit hutches is beyond me.
Some have no choice.
Wow, 90 feet and he survived! Kids are very resilient. As justme mentioned, some people have no choice to live but only where they can afford to.
I never lived in a multi-dwelling or tall building but in a building like this, I would be a little freaked out looking 90 feet down off my balcony. You'd think that anyone who does live up that high would take every precaution to prevent a situation like this "especially" with small children around who don't have the sense of fear yet or know the difference between a possible fatal situation while just playing around.
He was probably laying there crying for only a couple minutes when found and the parents were probably just looking around the apartment for him. I have 2 children and when they were very little, they did disappear here and there for a few minutes and I would frantically look around the house for them only to find them in one of the bedrooms playing quietly.
I hope for a full recovery of this child.
@ golliegee To be honest I find it difficult to stand living in a world with people as ignorant as you!!
Creek, I had rented for 20yrs... (I'm not overly handly and purchasing a home ways always a few thousand dollars out of my reach)... I only lived in two apartments but always took the first floor for fear one of my kids would fall. There are of course a few more problems with the 1st floor, like plumbling leaks come down :) but all and all it worked at well.
I pray for this childs recovery!
So the kid goes over the side and NO one in the apartment notices.....................amazing.
This little boy is one tough cookie.I wish him a full recovery.
I would assume that the parents are of another culture or are extremely ignorant to allow a child to play unsupervised near an open window with no fall protection.
I'm not sure how you surmised the "another culture" part as stories of "good ole Americans" do stupid stuff everyday.............I will go with your "extremely ignorant" part.
So,
How did the kid fall out of the window?
And since the baby was found crying in the bushes, the family, or whoever was SUPPOSED to be watching him..
didn't even know he fell out!
So. just exactly WHAT is more important than watching the kids???!!!
Head injury...hope he makes out OK. Wish him well.
baschnagel lets not be so quick to judge until we hear the whole story. I don't know about you but I have children and I do know that some times you turn your back for a second and kids do find ways to get themselves into trouble. I want to hear the explanation first, I am not going to assume anything, to many people assume to much and to fast. There has to be more to this story then is being reported.
That all sounds like none of your business.
My first thought was where were the parents???? How could you not know where your small child is?
niterider - some people love stories like this so they can come over here and make the same remarks over and over and over again - just to make themselves feel better.
There isn't enough information to make a judgement. A person can't be staring at the kids the same time they make dinner for instance and it makes no mention of how long it was before the parents knew what happened. People who make snap judgements based on very limited information prove themselves to have extremely low intelligence and possibly many terrible things to hide about their own lives. We've all known people who were first to point out the faults of others only to find out they had many terrible ones themselves.
Um, not to mention that a 4 year old is not a 'baby'. Accidents can happen even to good parents. Like others have said, there's not enough information to be passing judgement on what anyone should or shouldn't have been doing (other than maybe the kid himself...).
Hope he has a quick recovery!
It is hard to watch children 100% of the time. I know I gave my parents grief from the time I was about 4 until I left home at 17 after graduating from high school. I got hurt plenty, being a tomboy growing up. If the boys did it, I had to do it better. I had a "lot" of learning experiences. I would not take back a single one, though. Even with the bones I managed to break or even a concussion I got one time. It taught me a lot of things in life that have since come in handy. Kids will be kids and they do stupid things sometimes. I know I did.
I hope the young one heals up just fine and my prayers are with him. Enjoy life, you only get one shot at it!
In New Jersey it is a state law that windows in residences that are rented to families with children, single or multiple dwelling, are to have window guards for all floors above the first floor. Any doors that lead directly to a balcony or fire escape must also have a lock obove a child's reach.
I have to agree that many parents today lack "common sense" skills to child rearing. Many rely on video games, internet and TV to do the babysitting. Expecting a child to raise him/herself is plain ignorant. You can tell a 2, 4 or 10 year old not to do something, but it should never be taken for granted that they fully understand the consequences. Most learn the hard way...AFTER THE FACT!!
It's quite possible he could have been playing alone in his room. And having 3 boys myself, I know how fearless they are! However, windows shouldn't be that easy to open or fall out of. Just glad he wasn't hurt worse.
Windows are an obvious hazard to anyone.
Being a Parent of 2 children myself one 3 and one 7 and knowing what my 3yr old is capable of doing my only question is why didn't they have Locks on the Windows seeing as how they are on the Ninth Floor.
And i Pray to God the Little guy is Ok and come away just fine.
What the heck? How the heck does someone let their kid fall out of a 9th floor window? I mean, this kid falls out of a window and his family did not even rush down to rescue him or even try to prevent and stop it. He's only a child and he needs someone to help him, protect him and nurture him because he doesn't even know how to himself and then the family that is suppose to be loving and caring for him just let's him fly on out of the window as if he is a bird and he's gonna suddenly grow wings or something. Idiots! I wonder what the heck the family was thinking. Were they thinking "oh whatever just let him fall out and let the neighbors take care of it and try to rescue him". People these days. SMH
Unless you purposely throw a child out of an open window, I doubt any parent "lets" a child fall out of one. Do you have kids? You can literally blink and they are into something they shouldn't be. What I am concerned about though is why some sort of safety mechanism wasn't in place to prevent this kind of accident. Let the social services investigation go forward. It may be that charges of child endangerment are warranted, but you made an overly broad statement when you said "how the heck does someone let their kid fall out of a 9th floor window?"
The parents are too stupid or too precoccupied with the trash on TV, or they're too drugged out to care. LOCK the window. If it doesn't have one, demand one be installed, or get one and do it yourself. Sometimes, not even Gorilla Glue can fix stupid.
Obviously Chitown73 doesn't have kids...smh
Obviously Chitown773 doesn't have any kids
Where are the parents with whole story, they never see to be around that tells the entire story right there and it is sad that nobody seems to care.
duh they were at the hospital with thier child
i wouldn't let my pet near a high rise complex window let alone my children...some people just don't get it being a parent/caregiver and they shouldn't be one.
Agree. Some parents just are too stupid, or they just don't know any better -- in either case, they should never have children.
sure, and accidents never happpen, that is why insurance companies are multi billion dollar industries. Dont let your emotions cloud your thought process. And the parents werent doing a TV interview maybe becauase they would rather be with thier child at the hospital. Open your eyes people that a friggin patio door up there. the patios probably rotted and the lanlord took them down instead of rebuilding them and was too cheap to replace the door with a window. The bars dont cover the door completely the way child bars do when the bottom of a window is open. Seriously people. look before you leap with your comments (pun intended).
How is it that a window above the 1st floor in a building that houses children could be accessible to a 4 year old?
You cannot keep your eyes on kid(s) all the time. I don't care if their is only one. They are quick, they hide stuff, they try new things. Accidents are going to happen, the percentage is higher than 50%..God speed to this baby that is hurting!!!
WRONG, WIC-breath...if you're not working, and you have a kid -- you keep your eyes on hiim or her all the time -- put down the remote, stop watching the Kardashians and Judge Joe, and take some personal f-ing responsibiity...for ONCE.
Debchbum You are a real ASS! What a disgusting comment. Why don't YOU put down the computer and stop spending all your time on internet articles. Did you really just call someone WIC breath? UGHH!!! Downright nasty human being you are.
Wow. I hope the boy heals quickly and comes out of this ok.
Attention morons: Ever think that maybe the kid was alone in his room, maybe napping, and woke up and decided to screw around with the window? Maybe he figured out how to unlock it and fell out, while the parents were in another room? Are they supposed to have video monitors?
My 3-1/2 year old can make a huge mess in his room while he is supposed to be sleeping.
Or is it just easier to assume they are bad parents?
But, if I had a 9th floor apartment and kids, I'd make damn sure that the windows didn't open more than a few inches.
Hey, douche-breath -- ever think to ensure the windows are secured, the room being on the 9th floor...? You're just making excuses for irresponsible parents -- why? Because you're one, too? NO child should be able to open a window from any height -- PARENT responsibility. Stop making excuses for bad parenting.
WTF did I say? I said: if I had a 9th floor apartment and kids, I'd make damn sure that the windows didn't open more than a few inches.
Suck my cock.
Many, many years ago, I was babysitting a 4 year old. One minute there, next minute, gone. We searched high and low. Even in the woods behind the house. Then found her sound aspleep, under the coffee table of all places.
People always have a choice -- these loser parents CHOOSE to live in this housing because they're too f-ing lazy to get a job. Thanks, Obama -- just keep handing out money so idiots like this don't have to even think about working...they just keep popping out kids by various fathers...
bum <><><> Nowhere in the article did it say that this building was public housing. Some of the most expensive housing in the world are in high rises. Nor did the article state whether or not the parents (both, one, neither) was or was not employed and what does that fact have to do with the story, anyway? It may, indeed, be true that the parents/caregivers of this child was negligent. This has yet to be established. However, any parent who claims, as several on this thread has claimed, that they NEVER, even for a second, fail to supervise their children are, quite simply, LIARS.
DEbichbum, does your head hurt from being so stupid?
Ok, idiot DEbichbum, you have no idea of the housing costs here in Maryland, around the District of Columbia. That apartment could easily cost $900 plus a month!!! We are a VERY populated area and there are a lot of tall buildings for business, for living, etc... That is just life here. You just seem to open your mouth and a LOT of nonsense flows out of it. I guess you are too busy being perfect, and spending you whole day commenting on internet articles,. why don't you get a job yourself!
Debichbum,
I do not understand how you mind works, but it sure looks interesting. How can you just jump to conclusions the way you do? What does this article have to do with President Obama? I wish I .could understand how your brain works
Apartments are not just there for people who are getting help from the government. Apartments are home to many very wealthy people as well.
The President did not just start "handing" out money. I believe it started back during the depression and has grown from there. Most people on assistance need it. I, for one, am very glad that my tax money goes to helping those in need. I am also very aware that this portion of the federal budget is very small. It doesn't cost us much; unlike the defense budget that really gobbles up the money-most of it going into the pockets of corporations.
I'm always amazed at parents that don't safe guard
their children, when above the 1st floor
For God Sakes the 9th..4 year old..WTF
those balconys should be wrapped atleast 5' high with
plexi glass for this reason..Not to Mention the windows
Thats a No Brainer
This is so horrible that poor child fell from the 9th floor and then he was laying on a bush in pain and crying thank god this woman heard him, the family was in the apartment but why do parents think that they can leve their kids even for a minute alone kids do not know right from wrong and what is dangerous its the parents job to teach them, I remember seeing a video recently of a little girl with autism who climbed out of a window on a high floor and was standing on a air conditioner and then she fell but a man was standing on the ground and he caught her, thank god she survived and I hope this boy will recover from his injuries and I hope that his parents learned a lesson from this and they keep an eye on their child. And for the people that use that old excuse about you cant watch your child every second and accidents happen if a childs falls and skins their knee might not be a big deal to someone but falling out of a 9th floor window is not an everyday thing and the problem is the parents did not even know their child fell out of the window a lady found him and she called 911 because she said she did not see the parents around sounds like child negligence to me.
those highrises are home to thousands upon thousands of families. if every one left the highrises, the buildings would run down, becoming home to crackheads, junkies and where would every one go? stuff like this happens to all classes of nocommon-sense folks, like the folks who live in florida with those swimming pools and all the drowning deaths of little ones due to imcompetence, laziness, etc. maybe we should be required, by law, to get a license to breed?
Remember when Caroline Kennedy got into trouble in The White House pool. (If you were born since you can google it.) Apparently, no one was specifically assigned to watch her, but the pool and the surrounding space was crowded with party-goers and someone did spot her and sounded the alarm. Several adults jumped in fully clothed. BTW, that was public housing!!!
Ava: "license to breed" Indeed! Remember!!! China tried that. It was a flat out failure.
How do you know that these parents are lazy unemployed crack users? Because their child got hurt? Noone can watch a child 24/7. My mom was babysitting my 8 month old last weekend and had to pee ( you do realize that this sometimes occurs while watching kids right?) so being one of those over protective grandparents she sets him in the tub while she tried to do her business. What did he do? While wiping her bottom, she looked away- he grabs the shower curtain and pulls the whole thing down on top of both of them. My point being-Accidents happen with kids- even when you take precautions. Dont judge so quickly
stupid kid, dumber parents
@ AVA812 - license to breed! Thats a good one. People refuse to be required to show id to vote not likely going to get this legislation passed- although I agree it would help!
Real life John Locke!
Double post, ignore/collapse.
Child Protective Services will be investigating. As a parent, I understand that a child does unpredictable things. And as a parent, it is my job to anticipate as many of them as possible and protect my child against those dangers. I cannot fathom living in a 9th floor apartment and not safeguarding against a fall.
I am happy the boy is alive, and I hope his injuries aren't permanent or disabling.
Willworkforfood-1990374,
Thank you for a very rational response. A lot of people on here are making a lot of assumptions about the parents' financial status and calling them names. Children can be very unpredictable and as a parent, you can only anticipate the child and take measures to protect the child.
A couple of things. First, it doesn't say whether or not the window was opened or if the child fell thru the glass. I can see were a child may fall thru the glass if they pull a object up to the window to look out and fall. The seond is for the parents who say this would never happen with their kid. Did you drag your child to bathroom with you? Do you expect a single parent to make their child join them in the bathroom while they go in fear they will hurt themselves?
I sincerely hope he recovers. To others, accidents happen! Did everyone get on the bandwagon and crucify Eric Clapton in 1991 when his 4 1/2 year old son was killed in a 49-story fall out of a window? The story doesn't say anything about where in the apartment the family was, what they were doing at the time, or what window the child fell from. It could be that he was in his room for a nap, woke up, and was playing around the window when he fell. The family members may have thought him asleep still. And just because someone hears a child crying, if you believe your child is in his room and in bed, odds are most people are not going to looking to see what it is. That's assuming that someone inside the apartment 9 floors up even heard crying at all.