SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A toddler from southwestern Minnesota who fell from a third-story window of a Sioux Falls hotel has died of his injuries, the boy’s family announced on social media.
“It is with heavy hearts to say that our sweet baby boy Madden gained his angel wings late on April 15,” reads Tuesday’s post by Alex Hein, the boy’s father, who is a social studies teacher and head boys basketball coach at Jackson County Central High School. “We miss him so much and we are having a hard time processing this all.”
According to Sioux Falls police spokesman Sam Clemens, the approximately 18-month-old boy was visiting Sioux Falls with his family from Lakefield, Minn.
Shortly before 9 a.m. Saturday, first responders were called to the Club House Hotel & Suites in the 2300 block of South Louise Avenue after the boy fell from a third-story window. Clemens said bystanders with medical training provided aid. The boy had a pulse but was unresponsive when taken by ambulance to the hospital. He died Monday night.
In his social media post, Hein said Madden’s organs will be donated.
“His organs are going to help so many other people. Our little boy is a real life super hero,” Hein wrote. “We will get to do a honor walk with him to his organ donation surgery.”
Before Madden’s death, a GoFundMe was created to support the Hein family. Madden is survived by his parents, Alex and Kathryn Hein, both teachers who are expecting a baby this summer, and a 3-year-old sister.
In a Tuesday morning news conference, Clemens said that law enforcement continues to investigate the toddler’s death, but made clear that all signs point to the fall being accidental.
“Everything points to just a tragic event, an accidental fall,” he said.
