B.C. family shares story of 2-year-old’s ‘terrifying’ fall from window to warn other parents

Taryn Lim was in search of methods to entertain herself whereas she waited for her mom to prepare for a playdate on Monday. The 2-year-old woman selected one thing to play with: the curtains by the third-floor window of their Langley, B.C., townhouse.

She grabbed the material, stepped over the baseboard heater, misplaced her steadiness and fell out the open window. Her mom, who was in the identical room, shortly seen the toddler had disappeared and regarded exterior to see her mendacity on the bottom greater than six metres under.

Taryn’s father bought the decision whereas he was at work.

“There’s nothing I might do. Simply pray that there’s a miracle,” Sean Lim recalled on Friday.

Taryn was airlifted to B.C. Kids’s Hospital. She misplaced two enamel, broke her leg and cracked her jaw however escaped any accidents to her mind or backbone. Her brilliant pink solid will keep on her leg for six weeks, however the hospital’s pediatric surgeon stated she’s in any other case anticipated to recuperate.

Sean, who has one other four-year-old daughter, shared the household’s story on Friday in an effort to warn different dad and mom concerning the hazard of home windows left open with out youngster security guards in place.

The guards, which might be discovered at {hardware} shops for a number of {dollars}, are designed to maintain home windows from opening greater than 10 centimetres so youngsters cannot match by means of.

Hospital has handled practically a dozen youngsters this yr

As he spoke Friday, Sean cradled Taryn in his arms. The toddler, hair pulled again in two pigtails, quietly clutched a stuffed Dalmatian with a firefighter’s helmet and solely fussed when a fly bought too shut.

Earlier than the autumn, Sean taught each his daughters about staying away from open home windows. To drive the message dwelling, he dropped a teddy bear out the window so the ladies might see the way it fell.

The household’s previous rental had window guards put in, however they lately moved to a townhouse and weren’t conscious the home windows did not have already got locks in place.

“I used to criticize individuals who did not watch their youngsters, however this could occur to anyone,” stated Sean.

B.C. Kids’s Hospital has handled 11 youngsters this yr who’ve fallen from open home windows. Some, like Taryn, are out and in of hospital shortly. Others will want lifelong care.

“These are sometimes devastating, life-altering accidents, each for the youngsters and their households,” stated Dr. Robert Baird, a pediatric surgeon and surgical trauma director on the hospital.

Baird stated window guards are straightforward to search out and made for all sorts of home windows. He warned screens will not be sufficient to guard a baby — particularly “top-heavy” toddlers exploring their environment.

“Screens are nice at preserving bugs out. They don’t seem to be nice at preserving youngsters in,” he stated.

“It’s extremely straightforward for a kid to both burst the display screen out or burst proper by means of the display screen and fall out.”

Even when a youngster falls from a top that does not appear dangerously excessive, Baird stated dad and mom ought to cellphone 911 if there is a lack of consciousness or seizure-like signs. Baird stated something above one and a half metres is “thought-about a worrisome fall.”

Taryn was discharged from the hospital earlier this week. She’ll begin preschool subsequent month.

After her household introduced her dwelling, they purchased guards for the home windows.

“This can be a terrifying incident, and you do not wish to undergo the identical,” Sean stated. “We’re extraordinarily fortunate.”