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Girl Falls 7 Stories and Lives
While everyone else was sleeping in her Bronx apartment, eight-year-old Destiny Antonio somehow managed to fall out of her seven story window and land — luckily — on a 10-foot patch of grass.
Though it was 1:30 in the morning, someone heard her fall; a neighbor, Luis Guzman was outside talking with friends. “It sounded like you threw something very heavy,” he told the Daily News. “When we looked, it was a little girl right there.”
Until Destiny woke up, no one could figure out how she fell.
Destiny’s bedroom window and all the other windows in the apartment had functioning window guards. But Destiny’s mother had complained in the past that the bedroom opens too far at the top. Destiny told her family that she heard an argument outside, so she went to the window to see what was happening. The window guard blocked her view, so she climbed up on the window ledge and leaned out a little more, losing her balance and tumbling out the window.
Destiny — who suffered broken bones and internal injuries — is recovering well. Her family, on the other hand, hasn’t quite recovered from their shock. They say that housing authorities delayed too long on fixing the windows in their apartment. “Unfortunately, time ran out for them. That is why they are trying to wiggle themselves out of this guilt, which is even more insulting,” Ron Haynes, Destiny’s mother’s live-in boyfriend told the New York Post. He says the family first notified NYC housing about the windows a year ago.
Commenters on the Post article are quick to blame Destiny’s mother, though. From Karen22:
am going to say this again-why was this 8 year old unsupervised at 1:15 in the morning, and why was she climbing on the TOP of a window?
And realist22 says:
Thank goodness the girl will be alright despite having an incompetent mother.
I don’t know anyone who “supervises” their 8-year-olds at one in the morning — aren’t most of us sleeping? But should these parents have done more to protect their children, or is the city at fault?
Photo: digitalicon, Flickr
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[...] Girl Falls 7 Stories and Lives [...]
Best of Strollerderby August 28, 2009 | Strollerderby commented on Aug 28 09 at 7:01 pmSarah commented on Aug 24 09 at 11:22 amSometimes accidents happen and it’s nobody’s fault.
ceecee commented on Aug 24 09 at 11:23 amWho the hell supervises their school aged child at 1 a.m.? Those commenters are either childless, have not yet had 8-year-old children, or are the crazy types who rig the bedrooms with alarms or have nannies sleeping at the bedside.
I have found my 8-year-old at the kitchen table at 2 a.m. drinking a glass of milk. I was startled – of course – but also happy that the child is old/mature enough to get his own glass of milk rather than screaming for mom.
Lastly, it is unconscionable (sp?) for the City to ignore the parents’ request for window repair/replacement for a full year. Shoddy windows are a serious safety issue as they know all too well now.
PlumbLucky commented on Aug 24 09 at 11:31 amIt may be unconscionable for the city to ignore the requests for window repair or replacement, but as a parent, I would find some way to work around the issue myself after about two weeks of non-action. The safety of my child is not the responsibility of a government entity first. It is my “job”.
Sarah commented on Aug 24 09 at 2:53 pmNote that if there had been no guards on the window, this probably wouldn’t have happened- she would have had her feet firmly on the floor instead of climbing on a ledge to see out. Also: http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2009/08/25/the-risk-of-avoiding-all-risk/
Ali commented on Aug 24 09 at 3:25 pmSarah, you must be kidding. You think she should have had no window guards with small children in the house? Would you live there with your kids? I used to let me kids run around as they pleased, I did not want to hover. Now my 6 year old is downstairs in a full leg cast, toe to hip and in a wheelchair. Why? I let her run around an inflatable playground and let her out of my sight for a few minutes. A bigger kid jumped on her leg and crushed both bones of the lower leg. I should have been watching her closer.
Stephanie commented on Aug 24 09 at 4:16 pmAli, Do you really think that even if you had been watching more closely it would have changed the outcome? Probably not. The only difference is that you would have had to suffer through not only having a child with a broken leg, but actually watching it happen. I hope you don’t let this accident (and that’s all it was, an accident) deter you from allowing your children to be ‘free-range’.
Eric commented on Aug 24 09 at 4:52 pmWell, I admit, I had to look up what a window guard was but I don’t know what could have stopped this incident. Life has risks. Ali, if your kid never gets to go outside, run around, be a kid, and yes occasionally get hurt she’ll never grow up to be a normal adult. Don’t let this accident be the impetus for smothering you little girl. My thoughts and prayers are with your daughter.
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