Father of fall boy talks of his relief (From Haringey Independent)

Father of fall boy talks of his relief

8:54am Friday 16th May 2008

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The father of a boy who fell from the second-floor window of a Tottenham flat has spoken of his relief at his son's lucky escape.

Tyrese Anquendah, five, fractured his right knee after falling onto wheeled bins below the window and landing on the concrete pavement.

Police and ambulance crews were called to Trulock Court, a high-rise block of council flats off Trulock Road, at 3.30pm on May 5.

Tyrese, a pupil at Tottenham's St Paul's and All Hallows Infant School, had been doing his homework with his mother, Janet Dsane, when the incident happened.

Ms Dsane left the bedroom for a moment when she heard her youngest son, Liam, three, scream that Tyrese had fallen.

His father, Charles Anquendah, 36, was out when Ms Dsane called to explain what had happened.

He said: "You can imagine how I felt. I was crying because I was thinking the worst.

"He was playing and must have sat on the windowsill and his weight must have given way to the window which opened. The window isn't strong enough. If a child is nearby they can open it easily."

An air ambulance took Tyrese the Royal London Hospital, in Whitechapel, where he stayed for three days.

Mr Anquendah said: "The good thing was that he was still conscious and we were able to have a conversation with him.

"If the bins hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened. They saved his life."

He dismissed the idea, reported by neighbours, that Tyrese fell after thinking he could fly like a superhero.

He said: "Kids are kids, but he would have seen it was quite a distance from the window to the ground. He would have known he would hurt himself if he jumped."

Tyrese is recovering at home with his parents and brother.

It is not known when he will be able to return to school, but Mr Anquendah is philosophical.

"It's not even worth thinking about what could have happened. I'm not over the shock but I have to think that things could have been worse. I have to thank God. Now I just hope the council does something about the windows."

Homes for Haringey has pledged to replace all the windows in the block - which have an old-fashioned locking system - with double-glazed windows, as part of the £198.5 million Decent Homes programme. The new windows will feature child-proof locks.

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