Parents grateful for community's help as toddler recovers after tree falls into Santa Cruz Co. home

"When we say community, it's everybody and all that was involved," dad Zachary Smith said.

ByDustin Dorsey KGO logo

Friday, February 24, 2023

Parents thankful as toddler recovers after tree crashes into home

The parents of 2-year-old Milo Smith are grateful as their son recovers after being injured by a fallen free on their Santa Cruz Mountains home

BOULDER CREEK, Calif. (KGO) -- Little Milo Smith is recovering at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center after surviving being pinned under a tree that fell into his home in the Santa Cruz Mountains. His parents call it a miracle.

Parents Zachary and Catherine Smith are thankful together for their 2-year-old son Milo's life despite suffering serious injuries due to a more than 100-foot tall tree that fell through their Boulder Creek home during high winds Tuesday evening.

"So many things you worry about, right?" Zachary Smith said. "But the most important one is that: is he going to live? And that wasn't a guarantee. To get that guarantee, really makes the difference."

A 2-year-old boy is in stable condition after a tree crashed into his Boulder Creek, Calif. home Tuesday afternoon, according to the family.

It was much needed positive news received from doctors. Despite his broken legs and pelvis, the young boy will be okay. A true miracle considering the events that still haunt his mother Catherine.

"I didn't realize that the ceiling had collapsed and then I realized that I couldn't hear Milo, and that's when it kind of sunk in that we needed to find him," Catherine Smith said.

Neighbors, first responders and doctors all stepped in after that to save Milo's life. The support for which the family is incredibly thankful.

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That support has continued through a GoFundMe page that has raised more than $13,000 for the family.

Catherine and Zachary say they are grateful for their entire community.

"When we say community, it's everybody and all that was involved," Zachary Smith said.

"We're really, really thankful for all of their help and them coming together, watching the house, helping us take care of it and helping us get our boy out," Catherine Smith said.

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The aunt of 2-year-old Aeon, nicknamed Goldie, says he was an infectiously happy child, loved to dance, and always knew how to put a smile on the faces of his loving family. Click for a link to the family's GoFundMe.

A boy, his parents describe as the most caring kid - they joke he is also the most stubborn.

It might be that stubbornness that helped him fight through this tragedy.

"He's the luckiest, unlucky kid in the entire world at this point," Zachary Smith said. "The chances of him to be struck by the tree like that, but to be in that particular position and the particular way it was - yeah, a miracle."

The Smiths say there's a lengthy recovery ahead for Milo. He's still in intensive care and there's therapy in his future - and lots of doctor's appointments. But it's all worth it for their stubborn, miracle child.