By Dawn Tay

A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy miraculously survived a fall from the ninth storey, suffering only a broken right ankle and abrasions to his forehead, chin, abdomen and feet.

Doctors said that the clump of bushes he fell on might have saved his life.

The child was believed to have been playing on a bed next to a window in a unit in Goldenhill Park Condominium, which his Korean parents had rented, at about 11am yesterday.

He was believed to have leaned against the window, and plunged down the block when the window latch gave way.

He landed on the bushes, and his cries alerted some residents, who notified the condominium's security guards. They then called for an ambulance.

The family maid, who had noticed his disappearance, rushed down and carried him home.

After the ambulance arrived, Singapore Civil Defence Force officers checked him for spinal injuries and gave him oxygen.

Still conscious, he was taken to KK Women's and Children's Hospital, where he was warded.

His mother, Ms Kim Han Na, said: "He's in a lot of pain, but he'll be okay. God protected him."

Visibly shaken, the 36-year-old housewife declined further comment.

Dr Keoy Soo Shin, a consultant paediatrician in private practice, remarked that the toddler's survival was "more of a miracle than the norm".

Dr Keoy said: "Falling on bushes is probably what saved his life. A fall of two or three storeys is enough for a child to sustain severe, and often fatal, head and spinal injuries."

In February this year, an Indonesian maid died after falling from the 10th floor of a Tampines block of flats while she was hanging out laundry.

dawnt@sph.com.sg

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