Cat Gives All 9 Lives in Cushioning Child’s Fall Off Third Floor Balcony

A 2-year-old boy whose three-story fall was cushioned by a family cat was recovering in a hospital Friday, but the cat was dead.

A spokeswoman for Cooper Hospital-University Medical Center in Camden said Matthew Mikels was in stable condition after being treated for minor injuries after the accident Wednesday.

He was expected to be released from the hospital soon.

“It’s amazing he’s alive,” Camden police detective Gary Miller said. “If it wasn’t for the cat, he’d have had some internal injuries, but the cat evidently cushioned the fall.”

Mikels and the cat had fallen together from a third floor balcony, Miller said. Mikels was being supervised by a 17-year-old sister at the time and climbed out an apartment window to reach the balcony.

Miller said Mikels was found lying beneath the balcony, next to the cat, who keeled over and died.