Free falling

Here is some of what happened.

Yesterday, while he was supposed to be resting in my bedroom, Mason fell from our second story bedroom window. We are still uncertain of exactly how it happened, but he is telling us that he was sitting on the nightstand, watching tv, when he leaned back and the screen gave way sending him flying down into the garden.

It seems he hit the satellite dish with his shoulder on the way down, sending him tumbling, and then landed face first on the stepping stones in the garden. The sprinklers were on, so the landing (minus the rock) was slightly softened by the wet mud and plants that he landed on. He was bleeding pretty badly, but was able to get up and run out of the garden to escape the sprinklers!

Brandon and I had been standing in the kitchen, and we watched him fall past the window. It was insanely frightening. Brandon rushed to pick him up past the garden gate, but then quickly settled in the grass due to the high volumes of blood Mason seemed to be losing. I grabbed a towel and the phone to call 911. Brandon did an excellent job keeping Mason alert and reasonably calm while we waited for emergency services to arrive. Although it did seem like awhile before the ambulance arrived, the police and a local man with a police scanner were on the scene almost immediately. When the ambulance arrived, they strapped Mason to a back board, and used a collar to immobilize his neck. Mason was slightly irritated by that, because he had gotten up and walked out of the garden, and his neck was bleeding and sore. But, he did exactly as he was told and never lost his cool.

We rode in the ambulance to the hospital and again Mason did a great job listening and doing what he was told. There were only a few "incidences" with the medical professionals regarding my choices, and all seemed to run pretty smoothly.

Within three hours of arrival, Mason had had several CT Scans, XRays, and lab tests, and he was cleared to go home. That lucky little boy has no broken bones, no internal bleeding, and needed no stitches. He is pretty sore this morning, and his neck and shoulder are swollen. There are large lacerations on his neck and throat, and from his chin to his chest has a "road rash" from how he landed.

He is concussion free, walking and talking fine, and actually slept well all things considered. He will continue to be sore for several days, but looks to make a full recovery relatively quickly.

Hopefully he will stay away from windows in the future, and we won't have any more attempts to defy gravity. I know, as a mother of four little dare devils, this is only the beginning of our trips to the emergency room. Hopefully, the ones in the future won't come with a child abuse and neglect investigation as this one did.