Oscar Blaxland still remembers the first question he asked his mother when he woke up from a coma after falling six stories out of a window.
The then three-year-old boy had been playing inside a unit in Sydney’s Neutral Bay while his father, a real estate photographer, took some photos for a listing.
‘YO “I had taken my sister’s sneaker and thrown it out the window,” the 31-year-old software sales executive told Daily Mail Australia.
Then I climbed onto the windowsill to see where it landed. I lost my balance and fell on my head, but landed on my knees.’
Oscar’s first childhood memory is waking up in the hospital and telling his panicked mother Charlotte, “I want to watch Sesame Street.”
While her son was in a coma, Charlotte had promised him that he would be able to see his favorite character, Ernie, on the popular children’s show when he woke up.
The detail is made even more heartbreaking when Oscar reveals that doctors had told his devastated parents that he was unlikely to survive that night.
The cheeky boy had been playing with his sister in a unit of this apartment block in Sydney’s Neutral Bay while his father took photographs for a real estate listing in 1996.
Three-year-old Oscar is seen giving a thumbs up as his father pushes his wheelchair.
Both of his femur bones had been broken in three places, the growth plates in his knees had shattered, and blood had pooled in his lungs.
Miraculously, Oscar made a full recovery and Mrs Blaxland told the harrowing details of his fall for the first time in her new book. miracle boy.
While Oscar doesn’t remember the fall or the subsequent recovery, he does remember visiting his preschool and showing the other children his cast.
He said it had been emotional, and at times overwhelming, to read how members of his family were affected by the accident, especially his father.
“It was just one of those really inexplicable things,” Oscar said.
“If you look at the body shape of a small child, the head is quite large and even as an adult it is still the heaviest part of their body.
“They actually don’t know how I didn’t fall to the ground head first.”
Oscar, with his legs in red casts, appears in the photo with his younger sister Priscilla.
Oscar said he had been an adventurous child and an “intense” teenager, and joked that he was “definitely” responsible for his parents’ gray hair.
Oscar said his father until very recently had struggled with guilt.
“My poor dad has blamed himself his whole life,” she said.
‘Of course he shouldn’t blame himself, it wasn’t his fault. However, you come away from these traumatic incidents and people inevitably end up blaming themselves.
“He feels like he should have been my protector, he should have prevented this accident and I guess that’s your role as a father, to protect your family.”
“So that’s been very difficult for him.”
Oscar believes his sudden fame from being dubbed the ‘Miracle Boy’ by the media had changed his family dynamic forever.
Both of Oscar’s femur bones were broken in three places after the six-story fall.
Now he wonders if his sister Priscilla, who is 18 months younger than him, sometimes felt ignored in the whirlwind that followed his accident.
“I mean, it’s me in front of cameras and being photographed, filmed and interviewed by journalists who want to know my story,” he said.
And Priscilla is there, in the background. YesHe’s fine today, but that’s a hard thing for a kid to go through, feeling like maybe you’re not important.
‘My The sister is very important and very special. She is a wonderful and beautiful person. But when you’re a kid, you don’t understand the nuances of the context of the situation.’
Oscar recently married his partner Kate and is excited to start his own brood.
He does not believe the accident will affect his upbringing and believes children should be challenged in the appropriate environment.
Oscar returned to the unit block for the first time this year (pictured)
Oscar recently married Kate and the couple hopes to start their own family soon.
“I think that’s a good thing and I’d like to think I’d stay true to that.” But who Knows? “I guess now that I’m 31 I’m just coming to grips with the full severity of the accident,” he said.
‘I really don’t know how it will play out. But I do think a little adventure is a good thing for kids.’
Until then, Óscar intends to make the most of his knees until, inevitably, he has to replace them due to the lack of cartilage after the fall.
“I think I’m very blessed,” he said.
‘I really have no other way to explain it. Yo Feel normal. I’m just a normal guy. I have really bad knees, but other than that, I’m a normal guy.