A 2-year-old fell out of an open second-story window in a ‘freak accident.’ She survived.
Her family says she will need extensive medical care to treat the injuries from the second-story accident.
Most mornings, Theresa Grone wakes up to the sound of her 2-year-old granddaughter, Naomi Martinez, pushing a footstool across her bedroom floor in their Kensington home. Once she rouses her grandmother, Naomi will give her kisses before asking to be lifted up for her favorite activity: jumping up and down on grandmother’s bed.
“I call her the Tasmanian devil because she is the funniest little girl ever, she’s the sweetest little girl ever,” Grone said.
On Sunday night after her bath, the playful toddler couldn’t wait to get back to her favorite activity, bouncing on the bed while her aunt supervised.
But in a split-second, the night took a horrific turn.
Just past 9 p.m., after tiring herself out jumping, Naomi moved to lean against a wall near the bed, but instead tumbled backward through an open second-floor window, her grandmother said.
Naomi landed on the pavement below, near the corner of East Indiana and E Street, across from McPherson Square, as her horrified grandmother scooped the girl into her arms, crying out to police officers stationed at the nearby park for help.
“I’m panicking and I’m freaking out, my granddaughter’s choking, she’s bleeding internally somewhere and she’s choking over her blood,” Grone recounted. In the middle of the chaos, she said, Naomi went unconscious.
Minutes ticked by as Grone said she waited for help, begging the nearby officers to assist. Aurea Ocasio, who lives across the street, said she saw Naomi fall from the window, and the chaos that followed. The girl’s father appeared to be in shock, while her mother screamed so hard that, Ocasio said, she worried she might pass out.
Philadelphia police said they took the girl to the hospital within three minutes of arriving at the scene. Police are investigating the fall as an accident, a spokesperson said.
The girl was rushed to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, arriving in critical condition with internal bleeding in her brain, and facial and skull fractures. After emergency surgery, which required doctors to remove a piece of her skull to relieve swelling, Naomi is in critical condition but stable, with a difficult road to recovery ahead, her family said.
Doctors may need to perform another surgery this week to reconstruct the area around Naomi’s right eye, and she will have another surgery in two to three months to reinsert the piece of her skull that was removed, her grandmother said. After that, the toddler will need to wear a helmet and undergo rehabilitation, Grone said, pausing while talking to a reporter to tell the girl: “You are strong. You are a fighter.”
Now, a family is left hoping the bright, fun-loving girl recovers, and they are trying to sort through a swirl of difficult emotions.
“This was a freak accident. It was never meant to happen,” Grone said. “I just want to let these parents know, please, please, secure your windows somehow. It takes one second, it happened so quick.”