Saline student who fell 30 feet in high school gym released from hospital
The 13-year-old boy who fell 30 feet from a balcony in the Saline High School gymnasium has been released from the hospital and is home recovering from facial injuries, school officials said.
The seventh-grader has not returned to school yet, however.
Steve Laatsch, assistant superintendent of instructional services at Saline schools, said beyond a few minor injuries to the face, the boy is doing well.
"That's good news," he added.
Meanwhile, the incident remains under investigation, though at this point school officials don't think there's reason to believe another student was involved.
"There's no indication there," Laatsch said.
Around 9 a.m. Monday, the 13-year-old was on a balcony in the gymnasium when he fell over a railing and landed 30 feet below on the gym floor. At the time, the seventh-grade boy was in a fitness class offered to students at the middle school, officials said.
John Counts covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at johncounts@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
chapmaja
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 2:43 p.m.
The biggest part of the information released by the school is that there is no indication another student was invovled. This is also consistent with the information I have told by people who had family / friends in the facility at the time it happened. There also does not appear to be any indication that a mechanical failure occurred from what I have heard. I'm sure this post will be deleted because I stated the same thing the day this occurred and my post then was deleted. Let's just say news travels fast these days and it takes a lot longer to investigate than it does for news to travel around a school district..
chapmaja
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 2:38 p.m.
I have talked to several people who had family members in the gym when this incident occurred. From what I have heard, which is secondhand knowledge at best, the boy landed feet first, but the force of the landing went through his body up to his head, which is where the injuries occurred. How he did not suffer any broken bones is a miracle considering the force of a landing from that height. Landing from 30 feet up into water (from a 10 meter platform), doesn't feel that good, let alone landing on a gym floor. There are questions regarding the supervision that was provided, however the issue may be more with the term in the room? I would be shocked if there wasn't a teacher in the room when this happened. The problem with the gymnasium is that the track is a circle around th gym floor. It is nearly impossible to have a class of students in the gym and have a teacher within 20 feet of them as a group when they are the track. The track, which measures roughly 180 meters in length (just under 1/8 mile), circles the entire gym. A gym setting is not like a regular classroom setting where it is easy for a teacher to be within 20-30 feet of each student at all times. The other issue is that if you are on the track and need to get to the gym floor, there is no easy way to do that as there are no stairs inside the gym (at most schools with a track this is the case, not just Saline). A person on the track needs to go out into the hallway, down the stairs, into another hallway, and then into the gym.
Bubba43
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 2:34 p.m.
Third day in a row you have posted this. Happy that he's OK.
John Counts
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 1:44 p.m.
Here is a link to the link. http://annarbor.com/news/saline/mom-says-no-one-knows-how-her-son-fell-30-feet-in-saline-high-school-gym/
John Counts
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 1:18 p.m.
Hi Tesla. While the television station took the opportunity to take the story a step further on Wednesday, we were actually the first to report this less than an hour after it happened Monday morning. Since the WDIV report does bring more details to light, we will provide a link to it on our own site.
Tesla
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 1:50 p.m.
Morning John, I do see their time stamp was after 11PM last night. I understand it's a competitive business and maybe you guys and gals there are limited in what you can do, for whatever reason. I want to give you reporters the benefit of the doubt and say you want to tell the whole story unabashed and in real time, but are probably shackled as it were. It's pretty noticeable and more than likely frustrating for the staff reporters.
PhillyCheeseSteak
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 1:21 p.m.
Where is the link?
Tesla
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 12:38 p.m.
Hope the young boy recovers. Sounds like he is in good spirits after some pretty scary injuries. I am also not surprised that ann arbor news got scooped once again by a news agency that is not necessarily local.
Jim Osborn
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 11:39 a.m.
I would just like some basic information about how the kid landed. On his side? Flat on his back? How did he land without being seriously hurt or killed? He was fortunate. Not even a broken arm, "facial injuries" is vague, but there are HIPPA laws, I suppose. I'm sure that all teh kids in his school have talked about it.
thecompound
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 3:26 a.m.
A lot more info on clickondetroit.com
Tesla
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 12:40 p.m.
The mother of the boy gave a pretty extensive interview with Chauncey Glover and was quoted repeatedly. I am sure they had permission to use her name and the boys. They are not new at this like some news ....blogs....whatever this is.
sellers
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 12:13 p.m.
Let's get the story verified by a second source - the TV news crews love to sensationalize things for rating. If the child was named - I hope it was with the parents permission otherwise there is another lawsuit pending....
Tag
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 3:43 a.m.
Wow. A lot more info on that web site. Have to question the reporting here on Ann Arbor.com they're missing so much of the story. The child is named in the Channel 4 story. The child is identified as being special needs having Down Syndrome. The accident is under investigation because teachers/adults were not supervising when it happened. "No teachers or adults were in the room when the incident happened"
stevek
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 12:07 a.m.
Looks like its time for the parents to sue the school, district, teacher, superintendant, balcony manufacturer, and anybody else that can be blamed.
jns131
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 3:20 a.m.
That too will happen as well. Why do you think the superintendent is watching this case very closely?
Cathy
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 11:57 p.m.
Do kids still have to climb a rope to the gym ceiling? That never seemed safe to me, either.
Cathy
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 10:09 a.m.
Wheeler Park had the best slide in town: a "mountain" that must've been six-feet high, with a vertical tunnel through the center and two or three metal slides on the sides. My kids loved it. It was torn down a couple years ago and replaced with...an immobile mini-train. Riverside Park had a merry-go-round that was also removed a couple years ago. I'm surprised swing sets are still allowed.
jns131
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 3:19 a.m.
They are getting rid of the Kennedy slides too. Remember those big metal slides that we would burn ourselves on when the sun got hot but we didn't care because we loved the height and the slide? Well, that too is gone with the rope.
Ron Granger
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 11:29 p.m.
Why don't they have a zero-tolerance policy against falling? The board should convene an emergency meeting to enact such a policy. To protect the children.
Cathy
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 11:56 p.m.
Absolutely. This kid needs to be expelled forthwith.
Tru2Blu76
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 7:38 p.m.
Investigating? At what cost? How different things are now: used to be, when a student had an accident, the teacher or maybe even the principle would just ask the kid, "What happened? How did you fall from that 30-foot high balcony?"
johnnya2
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 2:21 p.m.
So if somebody threw him over you dont think people should find out? If there was water on the floor that caused him to slip should that be checked out? If the kid was trying to play balance beam should that be a reason? YES, things should be investigated. I guess you think that people always know what happened t them. i am sure when there is a car accident you want the police to ask the drivers what happened, then do no other investigating, because they would never have a motivation to lie. Give me a break.
sellers
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 12:11 p.m.
I'm sure the kid did provide a story, however, anyone who has children knows they lie (just as much as adults do). False accusations and attempts to get others in trouble out of sport occur on a regular basis. If the story was "the railing gave out" then it would be diligence for the school to verify that it did or there is evidence that it did, to put the issue at rest, but if the kid is covering for a bully who would retaliate if he tattled then the school is right to dig deeper.
jns131
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 : 3:18 a.m.
Just like my mother. How are things different today then they were when I was in school. There are no such thing as bullies and problems at school. Uh, she even says I make things up.. Uh OK whatever. Thanks for reminding me there are more then one out there that still believes in what you are posting here.
Billy Bob Schwartz
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 10:15 p.m.
There are a lot of really vicious acts being perpetrated by young people these days (and always before). If there's a chance some jerk caused this, then would you not want that found out and that person dealt with? If it were your kid who fell, I bet you would. In the old days they investigated, too, but you read about the story once a week, and people didn't get a chance to take aa.com potshots at the administration of the school for taking their jobs seriously. II think this deserves andinvestigation, or as some would call it, finding out what happened. It's the same thing, if it's done right. Semantics. I don't think they will hire the Pinkertons to investigate, or bring in the FBI. Glad the boy is okay, after a fall of 30 feet. It could certainly been much worse.
GoNavy
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 7:43 p.m.
Well said. Kid fell, face hurt, out of the hospital, back in school. Where's the systemic "problem" we need to root out and find here? Alas, everything needs to be "investigated" these days by a "consultants" who are hired by "administrators" who are masters in bureaucracy, paperwork and tangentiality.
Linda Peck
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 : 7:14 p.m.
I wish this boy a speedy recovery and return to school. It is a good sign that he is already at home recuperating.