THUNDER BAY – The mother of the eight-year-old girl who was recently injured from a fall at an indoor climbing centre is looking forward to when her daughter can return to the activities that she loves.
Lexi Lehtinen said her daughter Natalia fell approximately 20 feet on July 26 at the Boulder Bear Climbing Centre during a week-long camp.
“She wasn't able to keep her food down for a significant amount of days,” Lehtinen said.
“She’s eager to get back to her activities. She's really bummed – she can't go swimming and she can't attend cheer gymnastics. That's kind of her priority right now.”
Lehtinen said her partner received a phone call saying Natalia had a fall. They said she had stopped crying but she’d hurt her wrist.
“They said we might want to pick her up.”
But when Lehtinen arrived, she was surprised at the shape Natalia was in.
“Within an hour I was able to get down there and I quickly realized that she didn't just trip and fall as we were led to believe. The owner showed me the wall where she fell from and pointed way up the wall.”
Lehtinen said there was blood on the ground where Natalia landed.
“When I walked in, she was just kind of sleeping on one of the staff. So I checked her out and her breathing was audibly distressed. She struggled to regain consciousness.
“I was sitting her up and trying to wave her around to try to make her regain consciousness and she was not having it.
“And I asked her, ‘why are you breathing like that?’
Lehtinen said Natalia was holding her chest. The eight-year-old said her heart hurt. That’s when she realized Natalia needed immediate medical attention.
“So we drove to the hospital. The whole way there I was kind of shaking her trying to wake her up. I was unable to get her to be coherent and awake. We got into the hospital and we were immediately taken to a private pediatric room.
“That's when they started doing chest scans and things like that and realized she had some serious internal injuries as well as a broken wrist and a fractured elbow.”
Natalia also has a severe concussion. She had a partially collapsed lung as well as whiplash. It will take at least four or five weeks for Natalia to recover, she said.
Lehtinen said she is planning to take legal action against the Boulder Bear Climbing Centre, which has not responded to requests for comment. She is also hoping to speak with anyone who was there when Natalia fell.
On its Facebook page, someone from Boulder Bear posted that everyone at the centre is heartbroken that this happened.
“To suggest that anyone within the facility wouldn’t do their absolute best to care for any injured person . . . let alone a child is inaccurate and insulting to all those present not just the owner.
“Everyone working that day is fully trained in first (aid) and did their very best. As a note the child walked out of the facility with her mother.”
