A North Vancouver father is publicly sharing a traumatic experience in hopes it can save another family from the same heartache.
Last month, four-year-old Oliver fell from a second-storey window at his parents' home.
His dad, Michael, said the window is high enough that he never thought a child could reach it. As it turned out, he was wrong.
"Oliver, being the industrious kid that he is, had piled all of his blankets, piled all of his pillows and topped it off with a little stool that he uses from the bathroom to brush his teeth," explained the father, who did not want to share the family's last name.
His wife heard screaming – and then an eerie silence.
"My wife had a look out the window and looked down and saw my son’s motionless body lying 17 feet below in the concrete walkway," he said.
By the time he reached Oliver, Michael said he could tell there was an "obvious deformity and obvious head injury."
The family spent the next several days in the Intensive Care Unit at BC Children's Hospital.
"As we waited to find out the impact from the bleeding and the swelling in his brain was going to be, those were a horrible five days," he said. "Sitting in the ICU, holding your son's hand, not knowing if he was going to wake up and if he did wake up, not knowing the extent of his injuries."
He said he was overjoyed when Oliver finally woke up and recognized him – but the road to recovery remains a long one.
Oliver was moved to the neurosurgery unit to begin his rehabilitation to relearn how to speak. He was then transported to the Sunnyhill Health Centre where he continued his treatment and transition back home.
The little boy continues to undergo physical, occupational and speech therapies, and now suffers from a visual field deficit.
"Essentially, he only sees the right of his world. He doesn’t see the left. You will see this when he colours or draws. He will only colour one half of a piece of paper. When he eats, he will only eat the right side of his plate," Michael explained. "Due to how well he’s recovering , our family feels like we’ve been given a second chance."
6 cases so far this year
Oliver's fall is one of six that the BC Children's Hospital has treated so far this year.
In 2018, there were 15 falls from windows or balconies. Health officials are again reminding parents to be vigilant during the spring and summer months.
"A lot of medical emergencies are not preventable, but this is one that I think is preventable," said paramedic Jodi Butterman. “I think it is one of the most tragic calls that paramedics, first responders can respond to.”
It can easily be avoided by purchasing a $4 window lock or latch from a hardware store, Butterman said.
According to data from the BC Children's Hospital, most of these falls involve children under the age of six, 85 per cent of these incidents happen between April and September, and 77 per cent of them happen at home.
Common injuries that can occur include, head injuries, neck injuries and broken bones.
"What you may have noticed is small children, especially toddlers, is they do have quite large heads. So often when they fall, they fall forwards with their heads first or backwards with their heads first and the maximum impact ends up hitting their head, so they can have serious head injuries resulting from falls," explained Dr. Genevieve Ernst, the trauma director at BC Children's Hospital.
Ernst warned that if a child has fallen more than five feet and experiences symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, abnormal behaviour or loss of consciousness to immediately seek help at an emergency room.
