An 8 year-old was tragically crushed by a ‘guardian’ statue that fell on him at a famous luxury hotel in Arizona on November 27, resulting in his death.
The child who has not been named suffered a serious head injury from the statue and was rushed to the hospital at around 9am before tragically passing away there one day later.
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The ‘guardian’ statue fell on the boy
The incident took place outside the Arizona Biltmore luxury hotel in Phoenix where a large ‘guardian’ statue fell on the eight-year-old boy.
With the concrete figure falling on the boy’s head, he suffered serious head injury and was rushed to the hospital on the morning of 27 November.
It’s unclear why the statue fell
Reasons for the statue’s fall have not yet been revealed, but Phoenix Police have reportedly described the situation as a “tragic accident” with no suspicion of foul play.
The boy passed away at the hospital a day after he was struck by the stone statue.
The concrete figure was a replica
The statue was one of 19 ‘solemn sprite’ statues made to be replicas of artworks by Frank Lloyd Wright and Alfonso Iannelli in 1914.
The sprites are mythical being that guard the land which they stands on, making them ‘guardian’ statue, as the story goes.
The boy died of blunt force trauma
As reported by The Arizona Republic, the primary cause of death was announced by the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office to be complications of blunt force trauma to the head.
It hasn’t been revealed whether the boy was alone or with someone else during the time of the incident.
The Phoenix Fire Captain gave a statement
Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller spoke on the day of the incident saying, “Firefighters did an absolutely fabulous job getting this kid in the ambulance and transported to the hospital really quickly.”
It seems clear that the fire department tried their best to save the boy’s life.
The scene was chaotic
“Talking to the captain, he stated the child is in extremely critical condition, was a little bit of a chaotic scene when they got in, but firefighters managed the scene, they managed the incident, got the patient to the hospital,” Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller added.
Details are still unclear
The Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller said that the details surrounding the event were not yet confirmed. such as details regarding how the statue fell, or whether the boy was with anyone.
He said, “We don’t know what caused this. We don’t know what was going on before.”
The Arizona Biltmore hotel wrote a statement
A statement from the hotel where the incident took place was released, saying, “We are deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at the hotel earlier this morning.”
They added, “Our top priority is the safety and security of our guests, and our thoughts are with the family impacted by today’s events. We ask that any additional questions be directed to the local authorities.”
The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation also spoke
As the statue that fell was one of 19 gifted to the hotel in 1988 by the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Chief Marketing Officer of the foundation, Henry Hendrix, also gave his reaction to the news.
He described the news of the boy’s death as “heartbreaking.”
The Foundation was affected by the tragedy
The Chief Marketing Officer said, “The news about the passing of the child at the Biltmore is truly heartbreaking.”
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic accident, and our heartfelt condolences are with the family during this unimaginably difficult time,” he added.
