MINNEAPOLIS _ More than seven months after being thrown from a balcony at the Mall of America, a 5-year-old boy is back in school and walking without a limp.
The kindergartner, identified only as Landen, was released from the hospital in early August and is "now walking PERFECTLY with even legs," according to an update posted Friday on a GoFundMe website.
The post said Landen tells people when they get hurt: "Don't worry, I fell off a cliff, but angels caught me and Jesus loves me, so I'm ok and you will be too!"
Landen was critically injured with head trauma and leg and arm fractures after a stranger threw him from a third-floor balcony near the Rainforest Cafe on April 12. After several months of hospitalization and rehab, he was moved out of intensive care in early August. Landen, who is from Woodbury, has undergone several procedures after the 40-foot fall.
The post said that Landen came home from the hospital "with a limp and uneven legs from a two-time broken femur. ... Since then he has had many physical therapies to work on his walking." The page has raised nearly $1.1 million since April.
Emmanuel D. Aranda, 25, of Minneapolis, admitted throwing Landen over the railing. He pleaded guilty in May to one count of attempted first-degree murder and was sentenced in June to 19 years in prison. Aranda is appealing his conviction.
