Boy hit by car after wind carries bounce house – and him – away, dumps both into oncoming traffic on busy Hwy

ADELANTO –A 9-year-old boy was taken on a wild and terrifying flight Saturday afternoon when a bounce house at a child’s party was picked up and carried away by high winds. The airborne inflatable toy – still carrying the terrified child – was then dumped onto Highway 395 – where it was immediately struck by a southbound car.

Amazingly, the boy suffered only minor injuries and was transported to an area hospital in stable condition. The driver of the vehicle that hit the boy was “shaken up” but otherwise uninjured, according to officials.

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Emergency first responders were dispatched to the area of Highway 395 near Bartlett Avenue shortly before 3:15 p.m., after receiving several frantic 911 calls reporting the dramatic incident.

Based on the circumstances of the call, a California Highway Patrol aviation crew raced to the scene, prepared to airlift the young victim if needed. The helicopter eventually landed in the middle of the busy highway’s southbound lanes of traffic.

When officials arrived at the scene they found a damaged and partially deflated bounce house on Highway 395. Cars, trucks and big-rigs were backed up along the busy, 4-lane highway and family members, witnesses, and others were crowded around a shirtless and shoeless boy, who had been injured during the ordeal.

Paramedics determined the boy had sustained minor injuries and needed to be hospitalized to receive treatment as well as a full medical evaluation. As his concerned but relieved parents and family members stood nearby, the victim was loaded onto a waiting AMR ground ambulance and transported to an area hospital. Officials have not specified the nature or extent of the child’s injuries.

Deputies investigating the accident determined the bounce house had been in the yard of a home on the 18200 block of Delicious Avenue, between Brockman and Lee Avenues, when it was picked up and carried away by the gust. Adelanto-area weather reports have indicated winds throughout the weekend ranged from 6 – 12 mph, making the sudden and powerful gust that much more unexpected.

According to witnesses, the boy was inside the inflatable toy when “a huge gust of wind,” described by some as “like a tornado,” picked the bounce house high up into the air and carried it over a fence and away from the home.

While some terrified family members and witnesses scrambled over a fence surrounding the property and chased the inflatable house on foot, others jumped into vehicles and tore off after the airborne toy, which was heading southeast away from the home and soaring over a dirt field.

Much to the horror of those chasing the airborne toy and the victim, the deflating house was then carried over a fence that separates the semi-rural neighborhood from Highway 395, the main north/south corridor through Adelanto.

As the gust suddenly dissipated, the bounce house was dumped onto the southbound lanes of the highway, directly into the path of an oncoming car. Not able to stop in time, the driver hit the inflatable toy – sending it bouncing and rolling further down the highway – where the boy then tumbled out of it, according to sheriff’s officials and witnesses.

The partially deflated toy eventually came to rest near Bartlett Avenue, about 2/10ths of a mile southeast of where it first went airborne.

After dragging the bounce house off the highway, deputies were seen inspecting the brightly colored, red, yellow and blue house’s tie down straps as well as Velcro safety flaps at its entrance. Officials were also reportedly looking into whether or not the inflatable house was properly anchored and secured to the ground before it was carried away.

It was not immediately known if the boy was the only person inside the bounce house when it was picked up by the gust, but there were no other injuries reported related to the incident.

 

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Trevor Montgomery, 46, recently moved to Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source and Shasta County News Source. Additionally, he writes for several other news organizations, including Riverside County based newspapers, Valley News, The Valley Chronicle and Anza Valley Outlook, as well as Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County and The Mountain Echo in Shasta County.

Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)

During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations, including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center and Lake Elsinore Station, along with other locations.