When a stranger threw a 5-year-old boy from the Mall of America’s third-floor balcony in April, the boy fell nearly 40 feet, broke both his arms and a leg, and fractured his face and skull.
Seven months later, he is back at school and walking without a limp, according to a GoFundMe page managed by a close friend of the boy’s family.
The child, Landen, is now walking “perfectly with even legs” and loves attending school with his twin brother and his sister, according to a post Friday on the GoFundMe page organized by the friend, Noah Hanneman, which has raised more than $1 million for the child’s recovery.
Landen is happy and strong, and blowing kisses to everyone on his way to kindergarten, the post said.
The 25-year-old man who threw him off the balcony, Emmanuel Aranda, of Minneapolis, was convicted of attempted premeditated murder on June 3. He is serving 19 years in prison.
Around 10 a.m. on April 12, Landen’s mother said she was with her son outside the Rainforest Café on the third floor of the Mall of America when Mr. Aranda approached.
She asked him if they were in the way and if they should move before Mr. Aranda, without warning, picked Landen up and threw him off the balcony, according to prosecutors.
The police arrested Mr. Aranda as he was trying to escape on a light rail train at the mall, which is in Bloomington, Minn, a Minneapolis suburb. He told the police he was angry after being rejected by women at the mall for years and had planned to kill an adult standing near the balcony but chose the boy instead, prosecutors said.
Mr. Aranda already had a warrant for his arrest in Illinois for assault and a conviction for first-degree damage to property in Minnesota, according to prosecutors.
Landen’s family has repeatedly asked to maintain their privacy, according to multiple updates on the GoFundMe page.
“While the miracle of his survival is what we celebrate and thank Jesus for every day, we must also acknowledge that our beautiful boy has been on a very challenging road to recovery,” Landen’s family said in a statement in June. Mr. Hanneman did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.
After the fall, the child had fluid in his lungs and stomach, and facial and skull fractures. He underwent more than 15 separate medical procedures or surgeries, including the removal of his spleen and a stent placed in a vein running through his liver, according to the GoFundMe page.
In August, he came home from the hospital with a limp and uneven legs from a broken femur and an open wound on his stomach.
When Landen’s mother asks how he is doing, Mr. Hanneman said he responds: “Mom, I’m healed. You don’t need to ask me anymore.”