“It was like any other day, only it was the most beautiful day of the year so far,” Meyer told KOIN 6 News. “We wanted to open up the windows and let some air in. It had been a really stuffy winter and, to us, it was the perfect day to go outside and work on the yard.”
They had to run an errand and left their teenage daughters in charge of her younger kids. When she was almost home, she got the call “no parents want to receive.”
Her 2-year-old daughter, Emmalia, had fallen through the 2nd-floor window of their rental home in Southwest Portland and was badly hurt.
Jyn Meyer's daughter fell from a window in 2012. Her daughter is now fine, but Jyn reminds parents about window safety for children, April 23, 2018 (KOIN)
“When my daughter noticed that (Emmalia) was on the window sill and crawling out the window, she had yelled at her, ‘Emmalia, you need to get down,'” Meyer said Monday. “So Emma had gone down on one knee, resting her forehead against the screen, which is when the screen gave way and she tumbled forward and fell on the back of her head.”
Emmalia suffered a 4-inch fracture on the back of her skull and 2 small brain bleeds.
“It was the absolute scariest day of my life,” Meyer said.
The little girl spent 4 days in the hospital. Now, 6 years later, she is 8 and doing well.
“That day when the fall happened I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know if we would be a statistic.”
Now Jyn Meyer takes the opportunity to tell people their story hoping it may prevent another child from falling out of a window.
She said they never thought of putting in window guards or stops because the kids never really played near the windows. Now, they warn other families that safeguarding windows can save a life.
“Every year I like to pass this around as a reminder of this in hopes that it might touch somebody,” Meyer said. “I feel like we’ve been given through this tragedy an opportunity to reach out and help other people.”
Safety Tips
Safe Kids Worldwide says 3300 kids under the age of 6 fall from windows every year.
Teach kids and caregivers screens keep bugs out, not kids in
Open your windows no more than 4 inches
If you must open windows more than 4 inches, install a window guardor window stop that an adult can remove in an emergency
Keep areas in front of windows clear of anything kids can climb on
