The young boy who was nearly killed when he was thrown from a third-floor balcony at the Mall of America in Minnesota is back in school and “walking perfectly” without a limp, his family says.
The boy, who NBC News is identifying by his first name only, Landen, underwent surgery on both arms, a leg, his lungs, his stomach, his spleen and his liver, as well as treatments for facial and skull fractures, in the weeks and months after he was thrown 39 feet to the first floor of the mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, in April, when he was 5 years old.
Landen captured the hearts of the country as he struggled to recover, and on Friday, his family said in an update on a fundraising site that he’s now “a strong, happy boy.”
“When his mommy asks him if she can look at his wound or asks how he’s doing, he always responds with ‘Mom, I’m healed, you don’t need to ask me anymore,'” according to the update.
Landen returned home in August with a pronounced limp and uneven legs from a broken femur, and he had an open wound on his belly.
Landen is still being treated for the stomach wound, but “he is now walking PERFECTLY with even legs AMEN,” his family said.
“He loves being back to school and going to kindergarten at the same school his twin brother and sister go to,” the family said. “He gets out of the car every morning happy and blows kisses all the way in! He’s a strong, happy boy.”
Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24, pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted murder and was sentenced to 19 years in prison in June.
Authorities said Aranda told police that he was looking for an adult to kill but chose the young boy instead. Aranda’s family has said he suffers from mental illness.
