Georgia boy falls through attic while putting up decorations

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He's feeling better now, but 2018 got off to a pretty rough start for 7-year old Easton Brown of Loganville.

On January 7th, the East Georgia first grader was spending the night with his big sister Brooke and her husband Heath, who was putting Christmas decorations.

"And I wanted to go help him," Easton says.  "I had to go hold the flashlight for him so he could see."

Easton's mother Michelle Brown says he climbed into the attic and immediately fell through the ceiling.

"He fell about 9 feet onto the concrete floor in the garage," Michelle Brown says.

The impact snapped Easton's femur, or thigh bone, in two.

"The very next thing I remembered was when the firemen and the policemen came," Easton Brown says.

"I was nervous and scared at the same time."

Easton's leg was so swollen, an EMT named Brandon had to cut his pajama pants off.

"Easton started crying, 'No, I just got these for Christmas, don't cut them,'" his mother says.  "So, Brandon told him, 'If you let me cut these off, I'll get you a new pair of pajama pants.'"

Easton was rushed to a local hospital, then transferred to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.

By 6 the next morning, Easton was in surgery. 

It was up to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta pediatric orthopedic surgeon Dr. Jill Flanagan to fix the bad break.

Easton was young and still growing, so Flanagan needed to use something that would hold his bone together, without compromising his growth down the road.

"So, the implants I used for him, we call them titanium elastic nails," she says.

Dr. Flanagan used just 2 small incisions to place flexible rods. 

Six months, later, she took them out. If you looked at his bone now --

"This thicker part we see here that he broke, that would all look normal," Flanagan says.

And, remember the EMT who promised new pajamas?

"That night, he came back with a pair of Georgia Bulldog pants and a sweet letter that he left at Brooke's house for us," Michelle Brown says.

Today, Easton Brown is back on his feet.

"I feel good, it feels good," he says.  "I can bend it and stuff."

And, no, he says, he will not be walking into another attic anytime soon.