A seven-year-old boy who spent Christmas in the hospital after being seriously injured by a falling drone at Lake Eola Park has finally returned home, according to his parents, Adriana Edgerton and Jessica Lumsden.
The Lake Eola Holiday Drone Show, facilitated by America’s Got Talent finalist Sky Elements (Website), experienced some major technical difficulties when multiple drones started crashing into each other and falling into the lake on December 21.
The boy was struck in the chest by an errant drone that hurdled across the lake and fell into the crowd. He was forced to undergo emergency open heart surgery, and he and his family spent the holiday in ICU at Arnold Palmer Hospital and after a week of recovery, he was released on Monday.
The Federal Aviation Administration opened an investigation into Sky Elements and the incident and has suspended their Part 107 Waiver, which allowed them to operate drones over crowds of people, moving vehicles, and exceed the visual line of sight. The company was forced to cancel multiple shows across the country, including New York, while the investigation continues.
A GoFundMe fundraiser to help the family with medical bills has raised over $35,000 at the time of this post.
