This 2-year-old survived a 16-foot fall — because of his stuffed animal

Luis Eduardo Gomez, of Chelsea, was carried home from the hospital by his mother after the boy fell out of a second-story window, landing on his stuffed animal (at left). Josh Reynolds for The Boston Globe

A 2-year-old Chelsea boy survived a 16-foot fall from a second-story window after he landed on his stuffed animal, officials said.

The boy was jumping on his bed around 4:40 p.m. Wednesday when an unlucky bounce sent him right out the window, said Chelsea Deputy Fire Chief John Quatieri.

Fortunately, the boy, Luis Eduardo Gomez, was holding onto a large stuffed cow that he landed on, cushioning him from the worst of the impact, said Quatieri. The toy was between 2 and 2½ feet long.

“He fell about 16 feet onto concrete. He could easily have broken bones or been very seriously injured,” said Quatieri.

His safe landing, aided by the stuffed animal, is nothing short of a miracle, said the boy’s great-uncle, Luis Estrada.

“God saved him,” Estrada said. “The cow helped.”

The boy was alert and conscious when responders arrived, having received only minor injuries, said Quatieri.

“He had some abrasions and a laceration on his forehead, but we think he’s going to be OK,” said Quatieri.

Estrada said the boy was playing with his 12-year-old sister when he fell from the window onto a concrete slab in the family’s backyard.

“I was paralyzed. We rushed down to get him and we grabbed him; he was shaken,” said Estrada. “I thank God for everything; he was watching over us.”

The boy was taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and held overnight for observation. He was deemed to be in good health and released Thursday morning, said Chelsea Police Chief Brian Kyes.

Quatieri called the incident “certainly quite strange” and said it was “the first time something like it had happened in [his] 25-year career,” but Kyes said that children falling from windows is not uncommon.

“It happens, certainly. Tends to happen more in the summer when people have their windows opened,” Kyes said. “There are some high-rises where we’ve had incidents of kids falling out of third- and even fourth-story windows. Fortunately I don’t believe we’ve ever had a child die, but they have been seriously injured, breaking bones and whatnot. I’m just glad that in this case no one was badly hurt.”

The family moved to Chelsea just five months ago from Guatemala. The stuffed cow is a favorite of Luis Eduardo’s, and he takes it everywhere with him, his uncle said.

Jose Castro lives across the street from the family in a similar three-story house. He said that he tries to keep his 4-year-old son away from the windows at all times. “These windows, they’re so dangerous for little kids, because everything for them is play,” he said. “When we’re cleaning, playing, I never let him go by them.”