A 5-year-old boy and his grandmother are in a Falls Church hospital after police say a tree fell on them Saturday afternoon.
Liz Mills, a spokeswoman for the Loudoun County Sheriff's office, told News4 that the two were in their backyard in the 1900 block of East Beech Road in Sterling when the tree fell shortly before 1:30 p.m. Lucas Walker, 5, was playing in a sandbox when his grandmother Margaret Walker sat in a hammock. A dead pine tree immediately started to fall.
Margaret Walker tried to jump out of the way, but the tree fell on her, breaking her leg and crushing her hip, News4 Northern Virginia Bureau Chief Julie Carey reported. The tree struck the boy's head.
Both were airlifted to Inova Fairfax Hospital.
Lucas was classified as having life-threatening injuries. He was unconscious for a day but is now talking and smiling, according to his grandfather David Patton. He is listed in critical but stable condition.
His grandmother has had surgery on her leg and will have more surgery for her hip.
Mills said the tree that fell was between 12 and 18 inches in diameter and rotted out.
