LIBERTY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — A 4-year-old boy fell from the top of Lakota East High School’s stadium stands during a recent youth football game and suffered a serious head injury, according to officials.
According to a Butler County Sheriff deputy’s incident report, the boy “was playing on the metal platform with other kids next to the press box at the school’s football field," The Journal-News reported.
”The child, whose father was watching a Lakota Tomahawks youth football game Sunday afternoon, fell 20 feet to an asphalt walkway behind the stands, the report said.
The boy’s father told the deputy he was looking for his boy but couldn’t find him at approximately 2 p.m.
The father said “that he happened to look over the fence at the top of the platform and noticed (the boy) laying on the ground. Unknown how (he) fell … there were no witnesses to the fall,” the report said.
The boy “was laying on his back alert and crying but suffered a serious head injury due to the fall.”
Liberty Township EMS transported the boy to West Chester Hospital.
Officials at the hospital did not respond immediately to requests on the boy’s condition.
Lakota Schools Spokeswoman Betsy Fuller said “for privacy reasons, we cannot comment on the severity of the child’s injuries or recovery."
“Our superintendent (Matt Miller) has been in touch with the family and our thoughts and prayers are with them as the child recovers from this very unfortunate accident,” said Fuller, who added that “we are grateful to all the bystanders and first responders who helped get the child the help he needed.”
The youth football game was conducted by the Lakota Tomahawk sports league, which rented the Lakota East stadium for the event, said Fuller.
Tomahawk league officials did not respond to messages seeking their comments.
Fuller said the school bleachers at Lakota East and other Lakota schools are inspected annually and have passed safety requirements.
“This week, Lakota Schools has added additional security (fencing) ties and is looking at other options to help prevent an accident like this from happening again,” said Fuller.
She said all other sports stands in the school district have also been inspected and security ties reinforced as a precaution.
The Journal-News is a media partner of WCPO.
