Less than a week after falling 16 stories from an apartment balcony, a 15-year-old New Zealand boy was walking around a hospital Monday and was expected to be released later this week, according to news reports from New Zealand.
Jason Epps-Eades, who manages the Proximity Apartments in Manukau City, New Zealand, said the teen plunged through the roof of a parking structure before hitting the concrete below, Radio New Zealand reported, which may have broken his fall and saved his life.
The boy suffered only broken bones and was expected to be released from Middlemore Hospital later this week, Radio New Zealand reported.
According to a report in the New Zealand Herald, the teen stunned his parents and doctors by getting up from his hospital bed and walking on Monday.
Epps-Eades told the Herald the boy plunged 14 stories before hitting the metal-webbed carpark roof in a spot without metal or concrete bracing, which cushioned his fall just enough for him to survive the fall of the final two stories to the garage floor.
Police were called by a resident who saw the teen plunge past his balcony, the Herald reported.
Officials told the Herald they did not know why the boy fell. Inspections found the glass-and-steel balcony to be safe, the report said.
CNN
