A 4-year-old Santa Rosa boy had a cheerful reunion Wednesday with firefighters who rescued him after he fell from a cliff while visiting Bodega Bay on the Sonoma Coast with his family in November.
Sebastion Johnson hugged the firefighters and said, "Thank you" to them at a news conference at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, where he is still recovering from the injuries he suffered in the incident at Sonoma Coast State Beach at 3799 Westshore Road in Bodega Bay shortly before 5 p.m. on Nov. 10.
Sebastion fell off of the cliff while he was walking with his
mother.
Bodega Bay Fire Protection District firefighters Jason Downing, Marcos Barros and Lou Stoerzninger brought several gifts for Sebastion, including a department T-shirt, a toy ambulance and a toy fire truck.
Sebastion said, "I love them!"
The firefighters also gave Sebastion a card signed by all of their colleagues.
Downing told Sebastion, "When you feel better you can come to the station."
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Sebastion's grandmother, Leisa Davidson, said to the firefighters, "When we get out of here, we'll visit you."
Dr. Christian Newton, a surgeon at Children's Hospital, said Sebastion "is looking pretty good now" but will have to stay at the hospital at least a little longer because he still needs help with daily activities such as dressing himself and going to the bathroom.
Sebastion uses a wheelchair but Newton said the boy is able to walk with assistance and is doing physical therapy to recover from his injuries.
Newton said Sebastion had to undergo a tracheostomy, a surgical procedure in which a tube was inserted into him to create an opening from his neck into his windpipe to help him breathe.
"He was completely comatose with multiple fractures and wasn't waking up from his head injuries," Newton said.
4 yr old boy meets his heroes #BodegaBay firefighters who rescued him after 230ft cliff drop in Nov. pic.twitter.com/FowD0jZWsH — Stephanie Chuang (@StephChuang) January 14, 2015
Sebastion has improved "remarkably" but still has the tube, although doctors hope to take it out soon, Newton said.
Dr. James Betts, another surgeon, said the impact from Sebastion's fall "was tremendous - like jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge."
Betts said, "It's miraculous that he survived that fall. Truly miraculous."
The firefighters who rescued Sebastion repelled 238 feet down the cliff using ropes to where the boy was.
Barros said when firefighters reached Sebastion, "He wasn't conscious but he was alive."
Barros said fog prevented helicopter crews from airlifting the boy from the beach, so he was taken by ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, then transferred to the hospital in Oakland.
Barros said he is the father of a young boy himself and thought of his son while he helped rescue Sebastion.
Sebastion's mother, Jamie Guglielmino, said that when he fell, "I was hysterical. Any mother would be hysterical at that point."
She said, "I was just praying to God that he would be rescued."
