A 3-year-old boy with Down syndrome fell from a fifth-story apartment and miraculously survived after a canopy broke his fall.
Jose Garcia reportedly pushed away a piece of cardboard of an air conditioner in the window of his family’s apartment on East Tremont Avenue in The Bronx.
According to reports, he was in the care of his aunt and older sister, Mia Jimenez.
The young boy plunged to the street below but he hit a store awning attached to the wall of the building.
In the surveillance footage obtained by NBC New York, Jose can be seen crying and struggling to stand up as people surrounded him.
His heartbroken family said he suffered a broken femur and underwent surgery.
Jose’s older sister, Jimenez, told CBS New York that one moment his brother was in the kitchen with them while their aunt was cooking. Then he quickly moved to the bedroom and removed the cardboard separating the air conditioning unit from the window.
“And then he just fell,” she expressed.
Surveillance video from a store shows Jose’s aunt running outside and covering her face with her hands in shock as witnesses surround the child.
Hector Nazario, the owner of the store whose sunshade broke the child’s fall, said: “It’s a miracle the child is still alive, and it could have been worse.”
The 3-year-old boy will have to stay at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi for up to one month to make sure that his leg recovers properly.
The apartment building’s superintendent said the air conditioner has been removed from the window and replaced with a window guard.
One person commented: “He hit head so hard! This poor baby did not need any more hurdles. So glad there was an awning, but a 1 story fall onto concrete is still major.”
Another wrote: “Omg I am so glad that little boy is ok. The video was quite hard to watch. Big hugs little man x.”
A third added: “A miracle at the least – and the future is bright for this family and this little boy. It was heartwarming to see all the strangers unite in caring for this little guy, didn’t matter who they were they came together. That is America, not the other image that so often is in the media.”
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