Philadelphia 4-Year-Old Killed in Freak ‘Picture Frame’ Accident

Adrian Ortega and his mother are shown in an undated photograph uploaded to the family's GoFundMe page. GoFundMe

A 4-year-old Philadelphia boy was killed when a glass picture frame fell at his home, puncturing the child’s abdomen with a shard of glass, authorities said.

The boy, whom police identified as Adrian Ortega, was playing upstairs with his sister at his Northern Philadelphia home on the evening of Feb. 20, news station WPVI reported when the glass frame came loose.

Amanda Velez, the boy’s mother, told ABC6 that she heard a crash upstairs, followed by her boy’s screams.

‘I Saw Blood’

“In a matter of seconds, I’m using the restroom, I hear a loud bang, and I heard glass shatter, and I heard my youngest daughter, who’s 2 years old she was screaming,” Velez told NBC10 in an interview on Feb. 21.

When she rushed to investigate, she found that her son was bleeding profusely.

“I heard my son say, ‘Mommy,’” she told NBC10, adding that when she took him into her arms, “I saw blood.”

“When I went to lay him down his eyes started rolling behind his head,” Velez told ABC6.

The impact of the frame hitting the floor sent a piece of glass flying that impaled the boy in the stomach, officials said.

“He received a puncture or cut to his abdomen and that’s when family members transported him to St. Christopher’s Hospital,” Philadelphia police Chief Inspector Scott Small told WPVI.

‘Wasn’t Strong Enough’

Medics were unable to save the little boy’s life.

“They tried to do everything,” she told NBC10. “They said they were trying to stabilize him, so he could go to the surgery room. But he wasn’t strong enough.”

Adrian Ortega was pronounced dead at the hospital.

“My baby he was so full of joy. His sisters miss him. I carried my son. I birthed him. I was with him,” Velez said.

Authorities told ABC6 they had interviewed Velez in connection with the incident and that while no charges have been filed, the investigation continues.

Velez called it a freak accident, according to the station.

The medical examiner is expected to perform an autopsy on the boy to determine the exact cause of death.

Neighbors told ABC6 they were shocked by the child’s sudden death.

“It’s just a shame because they are so well loved, so well loved that it’s a complete shock,” neighbor Edward Rodriguez told WPVI. “When it happened, it just went up and down the neighborhood like lightning.”

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to assist with funeral costs.

“Adrian reached his untimely death due to a tragic accident,” the family wrote, adding that the boy was “a lively joyful 4-year-old who was filled with life and his dream was to become a firefighter.”

“Adrian was the middle child and is survived by two sisters aged 5 and 2 who can’t understand why they don’t have a brother anymore,” the family wrote on the GoFundMe page, adding, “No parent should ever have to experience the pain of burying a child.”

Freak Accident

The Epoch Times earlier reported on the death of a Colorado bowling alley owner killed in a freak accident involving the pin-setting machine.

Ector Rodriguez, 65, of Penrose, Colorado, died on Sept. 30, the Gazette reported, after an employee found him wedged in the pin-setting machinery, unconscious and not breathing.

Local TV station KOAA reported that Rodriguez was trying to clear a jammed pin when the machine descended, impaling him.

“She walked back there, found him impaled in the machine, called 911,” Florence Police Chief Mike Delaurentis told KOAA.

A'Myracle Miraculously Survives

The father of a 4-year-old girl named A'Myracle said his daughter miraculously survived a freak accident that killed her mother and seriously injured her aunt.

According to an Epoch Times report, a tree snapped and crashed down onto a car in Renton, Washington, on Monday, Nov. 13, 2017, killing 34-year-old Deidra Clark and injuring her twin sister. But while the fallen tree nearly completely wrecked the vehicle, a small pocket was left untouched.

“I was concerned for my daughter. And I ran to the car and she wasn’t in the car,” Norman Devoe told KING5 reporter Natalie Swaby.

“I thought she was in the front seat,” Devoe continued, “But the neighbor said they had her safely at their house, so I thank God for that.”

It turns out that while firefighters were working on freeing the passenger in the front seat, neighbors had pulled A’Myracle out to safety.

A neighbor was cited in a KING5 report saying, “It was really surreal to see the car and the condition it was in, and a little child there just looking out.”

NTD reporter Chris Jasurek and Epoch Times reporter Ivan Pentchoukov contributed to this report.