Sun Jiejie, 6, was lying in bed, playing with a mobile phone in a children’s hospital ward in southwest China's Chongqing city on Jan. 20. 12 days earlier, he fell from the 18th floor apartment where he lives with his grandfather and younger brother.

On Jan. 8, Sun fell from the hole where the air conditioning unit goes while he and his 3-year-old brother were left at home alone in Dazhu county, southwest China's Sichuan province. When his grandfather, Guo Yiguo, returned home, he found Sun lying unconscious on the flowerbed in front of the building. Guo said that, as Sun's parents work in other cities, he took responsibility for raising his grandsons. He had gone out for only thirty minutes due to an emergency. As the windows were installed with protection bars, he never even considered the possibility of one of his grandson’s falling out of the building.

Sun was quickly sent to the local hospital. On Jan. 9, Sun was transferred to the Children's Hospital in Chongqing. After 12 days, he was released from the ICU. Qin Jiaqiang, doctor of orthopedics at the hospital, said the boy had a spinal comminuted fracture and had seriously injured his lungs and abdomen. Doctors arranged a surgery to put 10 nails into his spine. The operation was very successful. For the next step, they will clear the hematoma in his spine with another surgery. Now the boy's right leg can move and his left leg has also regained feeling.

It was a miracle to survive a fall from the 18th floor. Qin said it is the first case he has seen in his career. According to Guo, the child's grandfather, the half-meter-high bushes in the flowerbed were an important buffer. More importantly, Sun's back hit the ground instead of his head, which no doubt saved his life.