***A Child and His Mother Need Your Good Vibes***

[Zomby Woof]

Today was quite upsetting at work. A co-worker brought her two children in with her to visit this morning.

Our offices are on the second floor of a 2 story building. The mother was talking to the receptionist, and her youngest, an 18-month old, was playing too close to the stair railing not very far behind them.

It's hard to describe, but the stairway makes a 180-turn coming up one story, and just over this railing overlooking the stairs - 2 horizontal metal beams with all the space in the world between them - there is enough space between the stairs below and the railing so that you can see the floor far below. Maybe 12-15 feet from floor to floor.

In a split second, the child fell all the way to the floor.

911 was quickly called by several colleagues. I wasn't aware of this immediately - I heard a scream, and the mother was in so much distress... :cry: Once I found out what happened, I chose to console a few friends rather than hover anywhere NEAR the site. There were enough people already.

The child was crying, so not unconscious, but bleeding from his ears, nose, and throat. The only update we received a little later was that he was airlifted to a major hospital 150 miles away (our town has a good hospital, but the trauma warranted more care than they could offer). He has skull fractures and spinal fractures. :-(

Just so horrible and surreal. It only takes a few moments for a life to change irrevocably.

Thank you all in advance for sending your best wishes, vibes, prayers, and thoughts.

ZW

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. prayers going your way

for the baby and his/her family....keep us posted please.

[nini]

2. thanks for the reminder..

I'll quit bitching about work and remember this little guy and his mom.

Reality checks always humble me. You know I'm sending everything I've got to wish him a recovery.


:hug:

[SarahB]

3. How awful.

Definite positive vibes sent to that poor family. :(

[JimmyJazz]

9. It's a mother's worst nightmare, isn't it?

:hug:

And good thoughts going out to this child as well.

[GreenPartyVoter]

4. This is very, very bad. Will be praying! *hugs and vibes*

[skygazer]

5. How horrible!

Things can happen so fast - no matter how careful or attentive you are, these things can occur. I can't imagine having something like that happen to one of my kids - :cry:

Positive vibes going out - I hope the poor little thing is okay.

[Blue Diadem]

6. That's so frightening

:hug:

My heart goes out to that Mom and her little one. I sure hope he'll be ok. My prayers are with that family..and with you and all who were there.

[Mikimouse]

7. I am sending a goodly dose of my best vibes...

Please keep us informed of any developments. :grouphug:

[blondeatlast]

8. Excellent trauma center if he went where I'm guessing, especially

for neurological problems. Children's is excellent too, if it eases your mind a bit.

One doesn't forget an incident like that--thinking of you, ya ol' grouch.

Take care.

[n2mark]

15. OMG

I remember when my 30 year old was a toddler. Evil Kenivel was pop at that time. My son had a plastic walk type motor bike, we lived in a condo an over the garage type condo, he was ready to take his bike down the stairs. Caught him in time. After that we had a gate there. Just scared the sh-- out of me. After that when EK came on the tube, we would shut it off. Kids get the craziest ideas. There were probably about 15 steps, but the fall would have been hard.

Children are so quick - it just takes a second.

[xultar]

10. Sending prayers

O8)

[CubsFan1982]

11. They'll be in my thoughts.

What a terrible thing to happen. I sure hope everything turns out all right.

[Arkana]

12. That's so awful. My condolences to this mother and her child.

:cry:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

13. What a horror!

~sending good cybervibes~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[katinmn]

14. What an awful thing to happen.

Mom must be beside herself.

I hope the baby suffers no lasting damage from this terrible accident.

Sending a prayer that he is not in pain.

And a hug for you. That must have been very upsetting for everyone.
:hug:

[CornField]

16. It is amazing how quickly things like that can happen

I will keep a candle lit for the boy and his family.

[SOteric]

17. Thoughts, karma, vibes and prayers are winging their way.

:hug:

[Dr Fate]

18. Anything for my main man the Zomby- vibes on their way. n/t

n/t

[shesemsmom]

19. Dear Lord

let that child be alright. AMEN
Keep us posted.
ps you would be surprised the trauma a child can with stand and come out fine. I hope this is the case for this baby. The fact that he didn't loss consciousness is a good sign

[bigwillq]

20. They'll be in my thoughts.

What a horrible accident.

[progmom]

21. prayers for the mom and child

:cry:
please let us know when you hear anything, ok ZW?

[flvegan]

22. OMG! (Opening up vegan karmic bank book...making withdrawal)

Positive vibes to child, parents, family...Zomby...

[MissB]

23. Oh dear.

I hope the child bounces back. Poor mother.

[RetroLounge]

24. OMG! That is awful...

My thoughts and prayers go out to her...

RL

[Evergreen Emerald]

25. oh that makes me sick!

Please keep us informed. Our wishes and thoughts and vibes and prayers are with her.

[Maddy McCall]

26. God! I don't know how I missed this thread.

Sending good thoughts your way. Please keep us updated on this little boy. What a horrible tragedy.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

27. My thoughts, prayers, best wishes and positive vibes

are extended to all involved in this. How awful. Poor kid and poor mother.

:cry:

[WindRavenX]

28. sending out good vibes

Oh man...:cry:
I'll make 2 cranes tonight in their honor.

[uppityperson]

29. Condolonces to you all

Things can change in 1 moment. So sorry.

[KT2000]

30. Oh no - best wishes,

good vibes and healing thoughts are on the way.

[Nikia]

31. I hope that he makes a full recovery

I feel for the mother and the child and the sibling too.

[GOPisEvil]

32. Best thoughts to them both.

How scary. I can't imagine what the mother is going through.

[amandae]

33. Oh my goodness!

My thoughts are very much with this little boy, his mother and family. I'm so sorry to hear that this happened! :cry: :hug:

Please let us know when you know more about his condition. I truly hope that the little guy will be okay.

[GreenPartyVoter]

34. Any update?

[Zomby Woof]

39. No update

I may not know until Monday morning. It's likely she will call the director of her department, and let the word spread. Unless someone calls me here, I probably will have to wait until Monday. I am on close terms with some of her colleagues, but admittedly I do not know the mother that well - my department has limited interaction with hers, and most of my interaction - when it takes place - is with her supervisors. So they will know surely.

Meanwhile, I think of how I would NEVER want ANY mother to experience this darkest of times. :-(

:hug: Thanks GPV!

[GreenPartyVoter]

46. Thanks, ZW. Will check back in with you again on Monday. *hugs*

[Bunny]

35. Oh god how awful.

That is just horrible. Good vibes to all involved. I hope the little guy has a complete recovery.

[GCP]

36. Jesus, that's awful. It's amazing how fast kids can get themselves injured

Please keep us informed of how he's doing. :grouphug: for he and his family.

[RandomKoolzip]

37. Oooof. That's terrible....

Good vibes go from me to this family.

[Zomby Woof]

38. Thank Yous and A Few Comments

First of all, THANK YOU to EVERYONE who posted their good wishes, and THANK YOU to EVERYONE who only read, but did the same. Either way, your support is appreciated. :hug:

I wanted to add some commentary about the nature of the stair railings, and perhaps throw some of my own ideas at you.

In truth, I never considered the safety aspects of the railings. To recap: they are metal, with two horizontal beams being held up, fence-style, by a series of vertical posts, every 3 feet apart or so. The horizontal railings are spaced maybe 1.5 feet apart, making the railing perhaps 3 feet high to my estimate. You can see now why it was so easy for a toddler to make his way through with NO effort at all.

They were built with practicality or aesthetics in mind. As long as adults like you or me held onto them, we wouldn't have any problems, right?

Our company leases the building from the business who runs out of the first floor (we're on the second of two floors). But, not only do we have employees who occasionally bring their children with them (like yesterday - she was off that day, but came by to get her paycheck), but we have customers who come by to transact business - not often, because we're just administration, and not the main location of business. So it's not very often, but some customers bring their children. These railings have proven to be unacceptable, for even the most attentive parent could have had this happen.

One of my co-workers is a mother and grandmother, and she told me yesterday that she DID notice these were potentially unsafe, and had suggested something be done some months ago. Admittedly, as I said above, that would have never occurred to me, but a mother has her own set of eyes!

Now she has been proven right, in the worst way possible.

So I have an idea. From now on, let us all, mothers or not, pay more attention to these things, and in the interest of safety and goodwill, not be afraid to insist a place of business make their surroundings more secure, so needless accidents like these can be avoided. It's a small effort that could save a life.

Thank you again. This community is priceless with its generosity and kindness. :loveya:

[shesemsmom]

40. Good idea and please update on the baby as soon as you know

thanks

[bleedingheart]

43. I believe that the railing should have been made safer by the owner

of the building.

[Zomby Woof]

45. YES

That is exactly what I said. I think there could be repercussions for them rather than our company. And if I told you who the owner was, you would root for that. They are one of the greediest, most incompetent companies in the western US.

My company is small and local on the other hand. Completely different in the nature of the business and size than the building owners.

[tjdee]

41. How terrible.

One second things are fine, the next it can all change.

Scary.

I hope they make it through this with the least amount of pain possible.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

42. Sending well wishes for no long term effects from this injury

[bleedingheart]

44. I hope the little one recovers 100%

I feel so bad for the mother.

[Left Is Write]

47. How terrible -

Falling is one of my worst fears for my children. It terrifies me.

This child and his family will have my thoughts and prayers.

[jus_the_facts]

48. Oh mercy.....

.....my heart goes out to them....and you for having to go through the horrific experience as well. :hug:

[Maestro]

49. Oh this sickens me

I hope the child will recover with no ill effects. Good vibes being sent to the doctors, staff, and of course the boy and mother.

[davsand]

50. Such a horror!

That poor baby--that poor family. I am so sorry to hear about it.

One shred of hope to hang onto is that fact that the little ones are so very hardy. I remember reading someplace that brain injuries when you are very young tend to have less long term impact because the brain is still so elastic. If there is anything positive in all this, maybe that is it, I dunno.

If that little one does have any kind of brain injury, let's hope it isn't severe or long lasting...

Brightest blessings to that child and the family. May the path back to health and vitality be a very short one!


Laura

[Redstone]

51. Tell your friend there are a bunch of people pulling for her kid. And make

sure to tell her it wasn't her fault--this could happen to any parent.

Redstone

[Dervill Crow]

52. Amen.

My hands are shaking and I'm having palpitations from reading this thread. My youngest is 15, but I can remember the feeling of looking where my toddler just was and NOT seeing him. Can't even imagine the nightmare for that family.

Sending positive energy and good wishes their way.

[amandae]

54. That is definately something she needs to hear

It could have happened to anyone, no matter how vigilant you think you are. Toddlers have a way of slipping away from you in a split second and, from the sounds of it, those railings are a definite safety problem for small kids.

Bottom line is that it wasn't her fault. Although I'm sure she'll beat herself up over this, it could have been any parent.

[flamingyouth]

53. This is just heartbreaking.

Of course this family will be in my thoughts. Just sends a chill down my spine to think of how one split second your whole world can be shattered. Tell everyone we're pulling for them. :hug:

[Pithlet]

55. There are no words

My younger son is 18 months old. This is so terrible. I hope he'll be okay.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

56. Any news on the baby yet?

[JackDragna]

57. My best wishes for the kid's health. /nt

[havocmom]

58. Sending strength and hope in their direction

Oh, ZW, hope things get better

[elshiva]

59. Prayers for that dear child!

Infant of Prague, help the doctors heal this child
console his parents, and his friends
and help Zombywoof.
Amen

[Zomby Woof]

60. Should have an update tomorrow morning

There are co-workers eho will be better apprised than me. I am prepared for any outcome, all the while hoping for the best...