Mom Unaware Falling Airport Sign Killed Son

Heather Bresette still unconscious, in intensive care
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 25, 2013 12:03 AM CDT
Updated Mar 25, 2013 2:30 AM CDT
Family Recovering After Airport Sign Crash Kills Son
People lift up the sign that fell on a family, killing a child and injuring the mother and two other children, in the terminal at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport.   (AP Photo/ AL.com, Carol Robinson)

The mother injured by a falling sign at an Alabama airport is making progress but is still unconscious in intensive care and does not know that the freak accident killed her 10-year-old son, Luke. Heather Bresette has two broken ankles and a crushed pelvis and underwent surgery over the weekend. Luke's 5-year-old brother, Tyler, suffered a concussion in the accident and his 8-year-brother, Sam, is being treated for a broken leg and nose, AL.com reports.

The children's father and two other siblings were not hurt when the flight-information sign, which weighed at least 300 pounds, crashed down as the family was walking by at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. They were on their way home to Kansas after a family vacation in Florida, where Luke went parasailing for the first time. "His dad said he was thrilled. He was an adventurous kid. He loved sports," the family's priest tells the AP. Officials are investigating the cause of the accident and have removed a similar sign at the airport. (More Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport stories.)

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