It was an Easter morning Kristen Barbe-Faulkner would rather forget.
The young mother of three was contemplating the day’s trip to her mother’s house when an ominous thud came from the next room.
“And my oldest runs into the room and says Mommy, Jayce is underneath the TV. And I just broke down and I ran right to him,” she tearfully recounts. “I picked him up and rushed, like I called the ambulance. I was covered in blood. I was so scared. I didn't know anything. He had blood coming out of his ears. And my first instinct was 911."
2-year-old Jayce, the middle of three children, had apparently tried to watch his favourite movie, The Little Engine That Could. He tried climbing on the dresser the TV sat to put the tape in. It was an older tube-style set with a VHS and DVD player built in, making it much heavier than modern flat-screen TVs.
“He tried to put it in and it fell. Like, it fell right on him,” says Barbe-Faulkner.
She says he suffered fractured bones in his skull. After a tense 24 hours in the Intensive Care Unit at CHEO, Jayce’s condition is improving. This afternoon he was moved out of the ICU. “He does say my name and he does talk to me. He does have his favourite toys. I brought them from home, and his favourite blanket,” says his Mom. “ So I'm just trying to make him as comfortable as possible."
Barbe-Faulkner says Jayce is still in pain and undergoing tests. She says doctors are monitoring the potential for some hearing loss. She says there is no time-line for when he will be released from hospital.
