We have some positive news, love muffins!
Landen — the five-year-old boy who was thrown from the third-floor balcony at the Mall of America is recovering and is said to be “alert and conscious.” according to his family.
He’s not completely out of the woods just yet, but his family says he’s no longer in critical condition and has additional surgeries to undergo.
via People:
“We are now turning our focus to additional surgeries, healing, rehabilitation and eventually a return home, which we hope will happen by June,” the family wrote in a statement on a GoFundMe page.
The family also thanked the public for all its support.
“We want to personally thank each and every one of you for your love, prayers and support,” the statement read. “We are astounded and so blessed by the over 28,000 individuals and families, from literally around the world, that have donated to our gofundme page. Your love and generosity overwhelms and means so much to us! We have no idea where we would be without you – God and your prayers have sustained us.”
Adding: “The road to recovery remains long, but with God and you, we are assured to make it through. Please keep praying for our son and may our loving God bless you and everyone you love.”
The GoFundMe page for the boy has raised more than $1 million as of Friday.
Landen sustained severe head trauma and multiple broken bones in his arms and legs after allegedly being thrown from the third floor of the Mall of America in Minnesota, allegedly by Emmanuel Deshawn Aranda, 24.
Police charged Aranda with suspicion of attempted premeditated first-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years to life in prison. It remains unclear if he’s entered a plea to that charge.
Investigators alleged that 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.
Aranda allegedly told police he had first considered choosing to kill an adult at the mall the day before the incident “because they usually stand near the balcony,” but that did not “work out,” the criminal complaint states.
About 10:15 a.m. the next day, Aranda was back at the mall, where he allegedly approached the victim and the victim’s mother as they stood outside the Rainforest Café on the third floor with another parent and child.
Earlier this week, Mac Hammond, a pastor from the boy’s family’s church, said the boy had endured a five-hour MRI, which showed his injuries were not as bad as originally thought.
Hammond told his parish Sunday that one of Landen’s doctors commented that the shape the boy is in, given what happened to him, was “truly a miracle.”
According to Hammond, the medical team said Landen’s injuries were more consistent with a bicycle fall than a three-story plummet.
Hammond noted the doctors found “zero evidence of brain damage…there wasn’t even swelling in the brain.”
This make us SO happy to hear. Keep Landen’s family in your prayers.
