Dublin ‘miracle boy’ who fell from top-storey window gets big shot on Late Late Toy Show
Kelson was on a life support machine for three weeks and had brain surgery
Young Kelson will be on Friday’s Toy Show
A Dublin ‘miracle boy’ who it was feared would never walk or talk after a fall from a top-storey bedroom window is set to be a stand-out singing star on next Friday’s Late Late Toy Show.
Ten-year-old Kelson Lahiffe from Brookfield Gardens in Tallaght suffered a horrific head injury in the incident at his home eight years ago.
“Kelson was playing with his older siblings upstairs in a back bedroom and they were jumping from the top bunk on to the bottom double bunk,” his mum Adele tells the Sunday World.
“They had opened the window to call our German Shepherd dog, King, in the garden, and it wasn’t properly secured when they closed it. Kelson fell back getting up on the bunk bed and when he hit the window it opened and he landed head first in the garden below.
“By the time we got to Kelson, King was standing over him and licking his face. He had also pulled his blanket out of the shed and over to Kelson.”
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Kelson, who is the second youngest of five children, was rushed to Temple Street Hospital where Adele was told that her child was unlikely to survive.
“I was told that Kelson only had 72 hours to live and I was screaming and roaring,” Adele recalls. “But the medical staff at Temple Street were just amazing and I can never thank them enough for saving my child.”
Kelson was on a life support machine for three weeks and had brain surgery.
“Because of the swelling on the brain they told us that Kelson would probably never be able to walk or talk or eat by himself. He’d be a disabled child needing full-time care,” said his mum.
“He was in and out of Temple Street Hospital for a year. His airwaves kept closing and they had to put him under an anaesthetic and put what they called a balloon down his throat to divide the airwaves. That happened three or four time over the year.
“We prayed and prayed and, thank God, he came through it all without any long-term issues. Today, Kelson leads a normal life. He’s GAA football mad, he loves boxing and he sings. We’re hoping to get him into the Helen Jordan Stage School.”
Kelson landed an audition for The Late Late Toy Show after his grandmother, Ellen Hyland, sent them a video of the talented youngster singing in a Foróige Awards show at the Civic Theatre in Tallaght.
“Kelson is our little miracle and I can’t tell you how excited we all are to now see him sing on the Toy Show,” said his mum.
