Saratoga Springs boy being hailed a hero after saving brother, now recovering from own injuries

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A 6-year-old boy is being hailed a hero after saving his 4-year-old brother from falling from a two-story window. Sadly, the 6-year-old is in the hospital recovering from serious injuries that resulted from his own fall.

The accident happened on Sunday, when the Silva family of Lehi was visiting family for a birthday party. According to father, Carlos Silva, his two sons Leo, 4, and Zion, 6, were in an upstairs bedroom looking at a cousin who was outside.

"My niece, who witnessed it, said that they were leaning against the window, trying to see her," Silva said. "That's when the screen caved in and Zion fell to the concrete path below."

Silva recalled rushing to his son's aid, along with his brother who is a nurse practitioner, after they were told of the incident.

"As a parent, you go into a mode that you hope you never have to go into, but I became very attentive to what he needed," Silva said. "My brother immediately started to assess what was going on, and we could see that there was a wound on (Zion's) forehead and a lot of blood. He was also unconscious for about 30 seconds."

The ambulance soon came, and Zion was sent via Life Flight to Primary Children's Hospital, where it was found that he had a fractured skull, a separation between his neck and spine, and a broken clavicle.

"The fracture in his skull is on the right side, and is pretty intense," Silva said. "There are a lot of arteries that pass right by your orbital bone, and all were unscathed — like, none of them were damaged. This was a huge blessing and something that doctors were really concerned about."

While little Zion was being cared for in the hospital, his little brother started talking more about what happened on Sunday.

"After the accident, Leo was pretty light about what happened and said, 'Zion is OK. He fell, but he's moving. The police put a band-aid on his head,'" Silva recalled. "Over time, (Leo) started to tell family members more and more of what he saw and how he felt."

That's when the story came out.

"Leo said, 'Zion saved me. When Zion fell, he pushed me away,'" Silva recalled while holding back tears.

Silva said that when he heard what Zion had done to save his younger brother, it caused his whole family to get emotional.

"When we found out, we were all a mess," he said. "Everyone has made him cards saying, 'You're a superhero.' It's been really sweet."

Zion is still in the hospital and has missed his first several days of first grade in a dual immersion classroom, which his dad said he was really excited to start.

"We're still monitoring things and he's off sedating medication but is still on pain and anti-seizure medication, but things are looking in a good direction," Silva said.

Friends have set up a GoFundMe* to help with medical expenses.

*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited into the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.

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