Boy Thrown From Mall of America Balcony Has Had 15 Operations, Remains in Intensive Care
Landen, the 5-year-old boy who was thrown over a balcony at the Mall of America in April, has had at least 15 operations since then and remains in intensive care, his family said.
“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 wrote on their GoFundMe page Tuesday. “It has been so hard for our young son and our family.”
According to his family, Landen has had surgeries for broken arms and a broken leg, the removal of his spleen, fluid in his lungs and stomach as well as facial and skull fractures.
This past weekend, the boy had to have a stent placed in a vein running through his liver “because of the serious complications he continues to endure,” the family wrote.
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Landen sustained these injuries after being thrown from the third floor of the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, by Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24, on April 12.
Investigators say Aranda went to the Mall of America intentionally “looking for someone to kill” and felt driven to aggression after being rejected by women he’d tried to speak with there, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.
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At around 10:15 a.m. Aranda approached Landen and his mother as they stood outside the Rainforest Café on the third floor with another parent and child. Without any warning, Aranda picked Landen up and threw him over the balcony. He fell 40 feet.
Earlier this month, Aranda was sentenced to 19 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted premeditated first-degree murder in May, CBS News reports.
RELATED: Man Charged with Throwing Boy, 5, from Mall of America Balcony Had Previously Been Banned for a Year
On the family’s GoFundMe, which has raised more than $1 million, Laden’s mother and father wrote victim impact statements addressing Aranda, which were also read out in court during a hearing.
“On what was a normal day for us a day of fun and playing a day meant for good you chose to commit a horrific violent act, an act intended for harm and act intended to kill and destroy,” Landen’s father wrote. “Thankfully our family serves a mighty God who is faithful to his people a God who intends to protect and save.”
