By Kale Williams
San Francisco Chronicle
BODEGA BAY, Calif. — Sebastion Johnson — the 4-year-old boy who tumbled down a 238-foot North Bay cliff, broke numerous bones, suffered a serious head injury, and fell into a coma that lasted more than a week — returned home to his parents Wednesday, the Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported.
Sebastion was with his parents, Jamie Guglielmino and Daryl Johnson, at Bodega Head the evening of Nov. 10. The family was taking a walk, watching the sunset and throwing rocks into the ocean when the boy slipped and fell at the highest part of the cliffs.
“I was 6 inches from catching him,” Guglielmino said. Johnson said he contemplated jumping over the cliff to help his son.
As evening fell, a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter illuminated the scene. Firefighters — who had previously trained for such a rescue at the same spot — gently placed Sebastion into a rescue basket and hoisted him to safety.
Guglielmino said she prayed while watching part of the rescue. “But they took me away because I was hysterical,” she said. “I mean, any mother would have been hysterical at that point.”
Helicopter crews couldn’t pick up Sebastion because of visibility problems. The boy was taken by ambulance to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital before being stabilized and transferred to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland.
The boy suffered numerous fractures on his left side and a serious head injury similar to a concussion, said Dr. Christopher Newton, head of trauma at the Oakland hospital. Sebastion was in a coma for more than a week.
He was well enough by Jan. 14 to have a tearful reunion with some of the firefighters who came to his rescue, and by Wednesday he was ready to leave the hospital, though Guglielmino said it still felt strange to be back at home.
“What percentage of normal is this? It’s not. It’s surreal,” Guglielmino told the Press Democrat. “I feel like I’m going to wake up in a hospital room anytime.”
And the family’s time in hospitals is likely far from over. Sebastion will need to have surgery in June to remove a tracheal tube, and a lower leg fracture is still healing. The severity of his head injuries will likely take time to diagnose as well, according to the Press Democrat.
In the meantime, the family is trying to figure out how to pay for mounting medical bills. Johnson had to quit his job to take care of the couple’s two daughters, the Press Democrat reported, and the ambulance ride to Oakland alone cost upward of $15,000.
The family has set up a fundraising website to help pay for the bills and had raised more than $4,000 as of Wednesday evening.
For now, Sebastion is just glad to be home, he told the Press Democrat.
“It feels good,” he said.
Chronicle staff writer Henry K. Lee contributed to this report.
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