Boy who survived fall down MARTA elevator shaft out of hospital

By Larry Hartstein

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A 5-year-old boy fell 12 to 15 feet down an elevator shaft at the Kensington MARTA station Monday but escaped serious injury, DeKalb County Fire Capt. Eric Jackson said.

The boy was conscious and alert when firefighters pulled him up using a rescue basket, Jackson said.

"Remarkably, considering the fall and what could have happened, the child was not hurt seriously," Jackson said.

The boy was taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta for evaluation and was released, but WSB-TV reported Monday night that the child's parents brought him back to the hospital after he complained of headaches. He was released a second time later in the evening, the station reported.

Jackson said the boy was on the second floor of the station, leaning against the elevator door, "when the door somehow became disengaged or opened and that's when the child fell. He fell onto the top of the elevator car."

The rescue operation "was a little challenging," Jackson said, "but we were basically able to use some ladders to get the firefighters down there, get the child secured and bring him back up on a Stokes basket."

MARTA spokeswoman Cara Hodgson said the agency is investigating the accident, which happened about 9 a.m.