If anyone from this thread is still listening, I stumbled upon this discussion from the opposite POV. The piece I’m writing needs a small child to survive a fall from a balcony. The child is probably about two, might be asleep and is definitely wrapped up in a thick blanket or quilt, and lands on a wood floor. It’s not on ground level (so the wood floor is resting on joists, not a slab). The fall will result in some spinal injury that won’t become apparent for some time (neglectful parents), so the child walks away, albeit in some discomfort, but does not receive any medical care. Clearly, by chance, the child could land, within the padding of the quilt, on its side or back (I like that martial arts mat image) if that would help for this to be believable. The balcony is at the top of an ordinary set of residential stairs, although the ceilings are high in the residence; let’s say ten feet. So, could a sleepy two year old, wrapped in a blanket, survive a ten foot fall into wood (if necessary, the floor could be ‘padded’ with random junk)?
Thanks, especially for the ‘cuts and bruises’ one, though the others I had already found. Specifically, I’m wanting to ensure it’s plausible that this tot could take the fall, as I say possibly asleep and wrapped up in a blanket/possible layer of junk where it lands, without more than, let’s say, a stiff neck. It’s critical in my story that the neglectful parents can get away with not taking the kid to a doctor even though, later in life, the injury will cause health problems. So I’m interested in anyone who might have information related to a fall like that of roughly ten feet where no medical attention would be required. <realizes in own mind that given enough junk on the floor, this question essentially answers itself, but remains unable to resist picking the amazing brains that took the original conversation to such amazing levels; that Dan Brown thing was priceless>
You know what? I am an idiot. The link sent me about the toddler who feel out of the window and received only cuts and bruises totally resolves my question. The part about how his total lack of fear and therefore not stiffening his body is the key. The toddler in my story, asleep and wrapped in a quilt, can jolly well also hit without needing to go to the doctor. Of course, if the worthless parents in my story had taken the trouble to go see a doctor…
The lack of fear isn’t really an issue. A drunk falls the same distance and is dead.
Childern are still flexible, Their bones bend. Until they’re about five, they have more bones, because some have not yet fused into their adult skeleton.
That’s not to say, all toddlers will survive a fall. Sometimes a fall from a highchair is fatal, but, some children bounce.
Go on …
Not entirely sure if this thread is still going, or if this information is still relevant, but I know that at my theatre, we have a loft for spotlight maintenance. This loft is approximately 40 feet high.
In the past, two people (I believe they were teenagers, high-school age) ended up falling from this at separate times. One of them broke all the bones in both legs, the other one died instantly.
Depending on how high your character is off the ground, OP, death is very feasible. He could break his spine/neck, he could damage his skull. Any of the previously stated information on this thread is very true.
It shouldn’t. A tetrahedron is still a triangular pyramid. (Second paragraph) A pyramid is simply a figure with a polygonal base and triangular sides that all meet together in a point (called an apex).
The things you remember from kindergarten…
My son during his suicide last June jumped 60 feet onto an asphalt parking lot and landed on his lower/middle back. He was immediately in cardiac arrest and unconscious and suffered death from a traumatic aortic rupture which caused bleeding into his chest cavity.
He was young and strong and 21 years old, so I’m guessing that height and that surface are enough to do the job.
I know this is old, but…
That flexibility probably helps, too, but size is the biggest factor. How does the old quote go? Ah, here we go: “You can drop a mouse down a thousand-yard mine shaft; and, on arriving at the bottom, it gets a slight shock and walks away, provided that the ground is fairly soft. A rat is killed, a man is broken, a horse splashes.”.
As an aside, whatever happened to gabriella? She was great.
Since a hydra was mentioned a few years ago, I would like to volunteer that if OP’s protagonist is an ant, OP has to change the modus operandi.
I went to look for a cite I vaguely remember from SD, and found my own OP. Seems some knowledge is extra sticky.
While not on to concrete I feel 18 feet onto grass and sand. I was a linesman for BellSouth and feel from a pole. I landed on my feet which quickly ended up on my butt.
The fall herniated 3 disc in my lower back. It’s given me chronic pain for the rest of my life. I truly feel had I fallen on a hard surface I would have been dead or possibly paralyzed.
Oh, the fall didn’t happen in slow motion, but rather the opposite. I heard the sound of my gaff leaving three pole and was on the ground before I had a clear picture of what happened. I knew I was falling, but there wasn’t enough time to think.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Thank you for joining our mssg board to share these details - hopefully you’ll find other conversations here that spark your interest as well.
I wish she could return as well. Her posts were fascinating. However, as I remember one of her last posts, she worked for a large city morgue (N.Y.?) and they had a policy of not allowing their employees to post on social media. The risk of violating confidentiality was considered too great. So she had to stop. 
If circumstances have changed it would be great to have her back.