Boy safe after 30 foot fall through school skylight in Novato

Lyanne Melendez Image
Monday, March 23, 2015
Boy safe after 30 foot fall through school skylight in Novato
9-year-old William Wells is recovering after he fell 30 feet through a skylight at a school in Novato on Sunday.

NOVATO, Calif. (KGO) -- Nine-year-old William Wells' condition is improving. His mother says he's asking to go home.

The nine-year-old Novato boy is recovering after falling through a school's dome skylight on Sunday. According to Novato school officials, Wells and a few friends got on the school roof and somehow fell through, sustaining multiple injuries, including fracturing his spine and suffering a head injury.

"My son is in there and I wish he wasn't. I wish I were going through the pain he is going through," said Michelle Melgoza, Wells' mother.

On Sunday, William and a few friends were playing at Hamilton Elementary when the ball went on the roof.

According to Novato School District officials, the boys found their way through the locked garden fence, removed a ladder from the shed and climbed onto the school's roof.

"Apparently the boys got on the roof and they walked around and there was a dome skylight. I don't know what they were doing on it, but the boy who was injured fell through," explained Leslie Benjamin with the district.

One of the boys stayed with William while the other went to get his mom. She quickly drove to the school.

Too afraid to tell his mom what had happened, William walked to his mom's car. She then took him to a local hospital, but after finding out what happened, doctors there made arraignments to transfer him to Children's Hospital Oakland.

"He has seven fractures on his spine a fracture on his head," said Melgoza.

Doctors also discovered a benign cyst on his brain, a pre-existing condition and nothing to do with the fall.

School district officials say they will go over their security measure to see how they can avoid this in the future.

"What can we do to make our school more safe. It was a weekend, things are locked up, so looking at that all over again," said Benjamin.

Most cysts are benign. Doctors will likely drain this one, but they will certainly focus on his injuries first.

They are waiting on the results of an MRI and are describing his condition as stable.