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10-year-old boy survives fall from 8th floor of apartment building

21 Comments

A 10-year-old boy narrowly escaped death on Friday after he fell from the eighth floor of an apartment building in Tokyo's Setagaya.

According to Fuji TV, the incident occurred at around 4 p.m. as the boy was playing in the 14-story apartment block with eight of his friends. A neighbor told police that the boy was hanging from the railing on the eighth floor when he went over.

The boy fell eight floors, as far as the entrance to the apartment block, at which point the aluminum portico above the front door broke his fall, saving his life, Fuji TV reported. The boy is being treated in hospital but is not seriously hurt, officials said.

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21 Comments
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Walking my dog, I saw a group of similarly-aged kids climbing over the railing of a mansion and that put me into a panic. I yelled at them to get onto the other side and told the building superintendent. Mansions are dangerous places for young kids to horse around in.

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It wasn't your to go. the Good Lord has other things for you to do - Bless you.

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The boy broke both his legs. He climbed over the 手すり (hand rail) and fell. Was he trying to see the "other side"?

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Thankfully the young fellow will be fine,

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Also, I hope he wasnt pushed or bullied...

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Glad he is OK! Geez - what a horrible life it must be for a kid to grow up in high-rise apartment in a joint like Tokyo. I guess the parents can't afford a house. Grim life, ne?

Sorry BurakuminDes but I have to disagree with you this time. I think SOME apartment buildings can be grotty, just like SOME houses can be grotty. We looked at loads and loads of houses when we were moving last year, and found all of them pokey, dark and next to no garden. We opted for an apartment out of preference and have a very very nice one.

Setagaya ward is for the most part the "expensive" part of town with the "best" schools (this is obviously debatable hence "") but all the houses we looked at were over there before we decided we didnt like it.

Dont know what kind of condo this kid was living in, but I dont think money or lack thereof has much to do with this. A 10 year old living in a house can ge into just as much trouble as a 10 year old living in a condo - just ask any parent of a 10 year old!

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I don't think Japanese kids are the only ones who lack common sense blue witch...here in South Africa the kids also do crazy stuff...especially the little boys...if they are in agroup they want to prove themselves and start showing off especially if the others dare them or taunt them to do it...they say young people don't have a sense of their own mortality...that is why they recruit soldiers at a young age...no fear of death...hopefully he has learnt a lesson now

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Glad the kid's okay (injuries aside, of course). The kid is 10 years old so he knew what he was doing when he climbed over. He shan't be doing that again though, I bet.

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Wow, lucky one.

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Just glad the little guy survived.We see too many tragic stories here,at least for him it had a painful but positive ending!

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I wonder what went through his head in those few seconds of fall. Wow, what a rush. Makes me noshes just thinking about it. This kid has a story to tell, for sure. @BlueWitch, Agreed

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@ Nicky. Totally agree! Some of them look rather palatial to me!

When I was a kid, I nearly drove my mum insane. Anything high, up I'd scramble as soon as my Mum turned her back for a second. By 10, I'd calmed down a bit but I still have a bit of the ole tomboy in me!

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@ Bluewitch. First congrats on the new addition to your lovely family. And so agree with your point too! We live in a house and some of the stuff my lot have nearly got upto is mind boggling! Kids of all ages are so curious about everything. That wonderful sense of adventure they have. Such a big world to discover. Unfortunately, inebriated with the feeling of immortality that all youngsters have, dire consequences don't figure anywhere. Some folk are still like that well into their twenties!

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Kids do a lot of stupid things, we all did as kids right?? Kids most of the time can not think of the full consequences of their actions. As BlueWitch said, many Japanese lack common sense, and KIDS they all lack common sense all over the world, that is why kids need parents, teachers etc..to make sure kids do not get themselves hurt, killed etc... But I do agree with Morning Face, sorry Asagao and with Laguna, these MANSHONS are not good places to be playing around, I guess in English CONDOS right??

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The great majority of people(ADULTS!!) here lack common sense for some unknown reason, I don't find it offensive since I, too, did lack common sense until I went to live abroad and opened my eyes to reality. I honestly believe the lack of common sense is a cultural trait here but I don't believe where are the only ones in the whole world with this "handicap". Who knows what other civilization may be suffering the same, right?

Still, major lack of common sense played its nasty role in this one, but fortunately this young boy survived to tell his story... Good for you, young boy! (^_^)

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It was the garage roof that did it for me. If I climbed up onto the top of the back gate then with a bit of a wobble and a hop I could get up there. It was a flat roof with tarmac and deliciously warm in summer, and when I wasnt up there pretending to be a cat I was imagining I was wonder woman.

Years later we went back and found construction going on. Our ex-neighbour told us the boy in the family living there had gone up on the roof and fallen through!!! (He was alright, just a broken arm I think.) It was nothing more than tarmac laid over planks of wood!

Thank god I was a skinny kid!

I got a bit nervous when we moved in here because we are on the 17th floor, but the kids have had the rules drummed into them now, and they now automatically ask me permission before going onto the balcony (we have 3 which makes it more difficult because they can easily get out onto one while I am in another room and those locks are pathetically inadequate, so I would rather teach them not to go out there in the first place without me to supervise.) My daughter has a healthy sense of self-preservation (always the last kid down the slide as a toddler!) and the baby seems to have inherited that too, but my middle one - oh god! He will be the one you will be reading about here in years to come! i only hope when it happens he is as lucky as this little guy! I darent even take his training wheels off his bike, even though he is 5 now, because I can just see what is going to happen!

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This story demonstrates the need for(suicide proof) awnings for all buildings. Not only can they save lives, but provide valuable shade from searing heat and heavy snow.

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@Nicky

Dont know what kind of condo this kid was living in, but I dont think money or lack thereof has much to do with this.A 10 year old living in a house can ge into just as much trouble as a 10 year old living in a condo - just ask any parent of a 10 year old!

Absolutely!

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Glad he is OK! Geez - what a horrible life it must be for a kid to grow up in high-rise apartment in a joint like Tokyo. I guess the parents can't afford a house. Grim life, ne?

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