TARZANA : Baby Survives After Falling 2 Stories

A 15-month-old boy was listed in good condition Wednesday at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles after falling two stories from a Tarzana apartment building and landing headfirst on the pavement below, hospital and fire officials said.

Erubiel Paez sustained severe bruising around the eyes but “is conscious, alert and eating,” hospital spokesman Tim Bradley said.

Bradley said CAT scan tests revealed no irregularities and X-rays showed no broken bones. Erubiel was expected to be released late Wednesday, pending the results of additional tests.

“This is one very, very lucky little boy,” Bradley said, adding that the infant’s resilient, developing bones helped him survive the uninterrupted 20-foot fall.

Paramedics responded to a 911 call at 18634 W. Clark St. about 7 p.m. Tuesday, where the infant had fallen from a second-story window, a Los Angeles City Fire Department spokesman said. The baby was transported by helicopter minutes later to the Hollywood hospital.

Tanya Tonches, the baby’s 17-year-old aunt, said she was at a nearby relative’s apartment when she saw emergency vehicles in front of the apartment building where she lives with the child and his mother. “I was so scared. I thought he wasn’t going to be OK because he fell from two floors,” she said.

Tonches said the baby’s mother, Reyna Alonzo, said Erubiel was left unattended only briefly.

“It was like about five seconds they left him alone,” she said. “He pushed the screen. Then he fell. . . . I don’t know how.”