Man Badly Hurt in Fall from Third-floor Balcony in Durham
Durham, NH - August 7, 2007 - Original story by Thomas R. Kressler in Foster's Daily Democrat.
A man who fell more than 20 feet from a third-floor balcony Sunday night was seriously injured and may be paralyzed.
Police say 20-year-old Justin Graceffa, who was subletting an apartment at the 5 Dennison Road complex known as "The Coops," locked himself out of his apartment. He was attempting to climb down to his apartment's balcony from a balcony above when he fell.
"He lost his balance and fell to the ground some 22 feet below," said Deputy Police Chief Rene Kelley.
Members of McGregor Memorial EMS treated Graceffa at the scene before transporting him to Wentworth-Douglass Hospital. He was med-flighted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock later that night where he remains in the Intensive Care Unit, said his father Robert Graceffa, of Hudson, Mass., this morning.
Graceffa broke three vertebrae in his neck, his father said, and has undergone multiple surgeries. He is expected to stay in the hospital for the next couple of weeks before starting rehabilitation. Doctors expect Graceffa will be paralyzed but to what extent is unknown. He may be able to use his arms.
"It's terrible," Robert Graceffa said.
The accident occurred at around 8:49 p.m. and was witnessed by another resident of the apartment building, police said. Graceffa was alone at the time. Drugs and alcohol do not appear to be a factor, however the fall remains under investigation.
"At this point it appears to just be a very tragic accident," Kelley said.
Graceffa, who has a permanent address of 70 Lakeside Avenue, in Hudson, Mass., is a student at Berklee College of Music, in Boston, where he is studying guitar, his father said. Graceffa was sharing the Coops' apartment with a friend who attends the University of New Hampshire.
The Coops is a 25-unit complex at the corner of Dennison and Woodman roads and about a half-mile from downtown.
