The story of a 3 year old boy falling from the second storey of West Edmonton Mall puts fear in every parent with a toddler who doesn’t know the definition of danger.
As a mom of a one and a half year old, I certainly am not a perfect parent. Olive gets into trouble all the time and thankfully I have always been there to bail her out. A few times, I didn’t know what she is capable of until she did it. Recently, she grabbed a knife off the counter. I didn’t know she was tall enough to reach and I had never seen her do that before. Luckily the knife wasn’t sharp and I was there to pull it out of her hand. But, things could have turned out differently. I know that.
I have heard some Twitter comments and even some remarks by kid-less people in our own studio wondering why the parents didn’t prevent this. Parents aren’t robots. They are human and we all make mistakes.
I am forever haunted by the story of a mom in the Toronto Airport. She was holding her 15 month old son in her arms…she took her attention away for just a moment when little Lucca went over the ledge, plunged 2 storeys and died. She is not a bad mother. But a mother who will punish herself for the rest of her life.
Lucca Romano died after falling 2 stories at the Toronto Airport
Since hearing that story, I keep Olive far away from railings even if I have her in my arms. I predict a lot of parents, after hearing this WEM story will do the same.
It’s great that the West Edmonton Mall story turned out well. The boy didn’t suffer major injuries, but it must have been terrifying for his parents and for anyone watching. Witnesses talk about the scream. I can’t imagine what that would have sounded like. Lately there have been a number of kids who have fallen and it was caught on tape. All the events turned out well, but man the video is frightening. Take a look.
1. A four year old is fooling around on the outside of an escalator. Things get out of hand and he falls into the arms of someone who was watching.
2. This one is disturbing. Another Turkish boy falls onto a pile of pipes. The 3 year old fell 35 feet. He survived. His fall cushioned by the pipes.