Lynden boy hurt in window fall showing signs of improvement

By Tina Patel

Q13 FOX News reporter

LYNDEN -- A 6-year boy who suffered serious head injuries after falling from a second-story window in Lynden is showing signs of improvement, his mother told police Thursday.

The accident happened Tuesday night at the Oakwood Apartments on Main Street.

Police say the boy was in his bedroom, talking out the window to a younger brother, when he fell 15 feet to the concrete below. He suffered serious injuries and was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center.

Lynden police said they know  that, as the weather gets nicer, more people are going to open their windows and let the air in. But they want parents to be especially careful that something like this accident doesn't happen to their children.

Jenny Long, the nanny of a 5-year-old boy, said she's constantly trying to keep her charge safe. So she couldn't believe it when she heard a boy around the same age fell from a second-story window at an apartment just down the street from the Lynden city park.

“Gosh, just the absolute horror.  I`ve never seen something like that happen and just the concept of that happening is really frightening,” Long said.

Lynden police agree.

“From what we`ve been able to piece together, the child was upstairs in his bedroom window, talking to a younger brother down below.  Some way or another, he managed to fall from the window,” Lynden Police Chief Jack Foster said.

“He’s still in critical condition, but he could nod his head, squeezed her hand, not able to talk yet, but he can move around a little bit.”

Police say this was just an accident but also a reminder to parents to take precautions.

Courtney Blair says she had something called ‘angel bars’ installed in her kids' rooms.

“When they`re up on the bed -- they have the bed by the window -- they want to look out ... and they fall out. It`s something parents don't really think about, but to have the (bars) option, it`s great,” Blair said.

Foster said if you don’t want to buy a commercial product, “You can also just put a screw in the window sill. You put it back just a few inches where it (the window) will open enough to get ventilation, but not enough for where a child can fall.”

Long says she`s going to keep a closer watch on the kids she takes care of, and talk to them about staying away from windows.

Police also warned that a screen on a window is not enough protection against the weight of a child.