Elementary School Children Hurt on Inflatable Slide

Eight fifth-grade children were transported to hospitals Friday after an inflatable slide they were on tipped over.

None of the injuries from the afternoon incident at Robinson Elementary School in west surburban Lyons were life-threatening, but it did leave several of them bruised and frightened.

"My forehead kind of hurts and my arm hurts and my nose is broken," said 10-year-old Everardo Patino after being released from Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood.

He and as many as 25 other children were near or atop the rented "freestanding" inflatable slide, which stands about 15 feet tall, when it tipped over at about 1 p.m., sending several down to the asphalt below.

"I hit the ground with my face," he said.  "When I got up my nose was bleeding, my head was bleeding a little and they just took me to the nurse."

Patino has a concussion and a possible fracture in his arm.  Seven other students were also taken to hospitals.

In Spanish, Patino's mom said she was terrified when she saw her son and wants answers as to how the incident occurred. 

"Why was it setup on asphalt and not on grass?" questioned one neighbor. 

The superintendent of Lyons Elementary School District 103,  Michael Warner, said a cause for the collapse was still being investigated. 

"As the students are released and we talk to the various fifth graders, we'll try to get a better idea of what exactly happened," he said.