Boy, 2, ‘critical’ after 45ft plunge from flat

A TODDLER was in hospital in a critical condition yesterday after falling 45ft from a fourthfloor flat.

The two-year-old boy, named locally as Kaden Southwell, fell from the window ledge of the property in Aberdeen.

The infant was seriously injured after he landed on a grassy area below the window after falling about 1.40pm on Monday.

Paramedics treated the boy before he was taken to hospital.

The extent of his injuries is not yet known but he was described as being in a ‘critical but stable’ condition after being airlifted to Glasgow.

It is thought his parents, Dawn Davidson and Paul Southwell, were at his bedside yesterday.

Neighbours told of their shock after running out to the back of the council-owned properties to find the child injured.

A 37-year-old woman, who was one of the first on the scene, said: ‘I heard the mother call for help. I went round the building and saw a little boy on the ground. He was lying on his side making a noise. He sounded like he was in pain.’

The woman, who did not want to be named, said she returned to the front of the building to show paramedics where they needed to go as soon as she found out the mother had called for an ambulance.

She added: ‘The mother looked distressed, I think she was crying.’

Other neighbours told how police arrived on the street, in the Balnagask area of the city, at about 2pm on Monday and were parked outside the building until yesterday morning.

Conservative councillor Alan Donnelly said: ‘My thoughts are naturally with his family and his friends.

‘Hopefully he will make a speedy recovery.

‘We need to find out the circumstances behind it, whether it was window security and if there are any safety aspects to consider.’

A police spokesman said: ‘Police Scotland was made aware of reports at around 1.40pm of a two-year-old boy who had fallen from a window at a property in the Balnagask area of Torry yesterday.

‘The youngster was taken to Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital for initial assessment but has since been transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow.

‘inquiries are ongoing.’

‘The mother looked distressed’