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Becca Keen Cunningham and her son, Thomas, 7.

(Photo courtesy Becca Keen Cunningham)

Becca Keen Cunningham was downstairs in her split-level Vancouver home the afternoon of Oct. 21, 2010, when she heard an odd noise. She wondered if one of her 3-year-old twins had heard a Halloween story and was imitating ghost-like sounds.

Then it dawned on her: That was no playful noise.

She ran upstairs to her boys' second-story bedroom, where Thomas was supposed to have been resting. A window was open and the corner of the screen was pushed out.

Her beautiful little blond boy was sprawled on the concrete patio below, semi-conscious and moaning.

She and her husband, Jason, a Portland firefighter, raced to his side. Jason monitored the boy's vital signs while Becca called 9-1-1.

Though she'd always been a stickler for safety, Keen Cunningham says, she simply wasn't aware that her home should have had window guards or window stops to prevent precisely the type of accident that could have killed her child.

The near catastrophe, which resulted in an eight-day, medically induced coma, temporary paralysis, a year of therapy and brain surgery for her boy, inspired Keen Cunningham's new book, "If Kids Could Float: A Window Fall Prevention Story."

The self-published book, illustrated by Beaverton's Charlie Donkin, is intended for young children but also has practical information for parents of little ones. Proceeds from sales of the book will go toward window safety prevention efforts in the Portland-Vancouver area.

This week, as weather warms and Northwesterners are opening windows perhaps for the first time in months, is National Window Safety Week, designed to heighten awareness of the problem.

Each year in the United States, about 3,300 children fall from windows. Last year, 32 did in Oregon. Many die and many suffer traumatic brain injuries.

Such falls can be prevented with inexpensive window stops, such as those made by KidCo, which keep windows from opening more than 4 inches, or window guards, such as those made by Guardian Angel, which block children from being able to push through a screen. Those are the brands Keen Cunningham now uses.

Keen Cunningham wants to get the book to as many parents as possible.

Or, if you're having a home built or new windows installed, you can order them equipped with safety devices if you buy such brands as Jeld-Wen and Mercer Windows.

"After Thomas' fall," says Keen Cunningham, "I spent a lot of time thinking: Why didn't I know" about such devices?

She hopes to see her book handed out at pediatricians' offices, health fairs, children's events and elsewhere. Ideally, she says, every parent would get a copy at their baby's 12-month, well-child checkup – or better yet, as a baby shower gift, along with some window stops.

She'll get a good start on her publicity push Wednesday, when she'll read the book to young patients at Randall Children's Hospital at Legacy Emanuel; the event is not open to the public.

After a year of hard work in physical, occupational and speech therapy, her son "has recovered amazingly well," she says. "Ours is the happy ending to a difficult story."

Yet, life will never be as normal for Thomas as it might have been had he not fallen.

Last summer, he required brain surgery because his skull hadn't healed properly after the accident.

And though he loves sports, doctors recommend he doesn't play such games as soccer or basketball because the risk of concussion is too high. After his traumatic brain injury, even a mild concussion could pose serious problems for him.

"We want him to have freedom and to have a childhood," Keen Cunningham says, "but we need to protect him differently than we do our other kids."

Depending on where you buy it, "If Kids Could Float" costs between $5 and $14. It's available on Amazon, through authorhouse.com or directly from Keen Cunningham by e-mailing her at beccakeen@hotmail.com.

-- Katy Muldoon