ESTACADA, Ore. (KOIN) — Tate McDonald was matter-of-fact as only a 4-year-old can be when he talked about how he ended up with a broken femur.

“Then my dad looked out the window and then he looked down and then I was gone,” Tate said.

He and his parents had literally just moved into their new home in Estacada when Tate fell out a second-story window.

“We were in the house for 2 hours,” Tate’s mom Michele McDonald, said. “His dad was putting together the bed. Tate handed him a tool, and not 30 seconds later he heard the screen pop off. Looked back and Tate was gone.”

Her husband grabbed his phone, ran down the stairs, called 911 and “just laid on the deck next to Tate while the ambulance was coming,” she said.

Tate spent 3 days in the hospital and had surgery for a broken femur. He’ll need a second operation in 6-9 months.

Tate McDonald, 4, broke his femur when he fell out a second-story window at their Estacada house, May 26, 2025 (KOIN)

“Standard windows come with locks when they’re closed. You have to push usually a little button here to open the window,” she said, “but once it’s open, the window can go as far as you want it to.”

Michele said the family quickly bought locks to keep the window from being opened all the way. They’re inexpensive and easy to install and can prevent an accident like the McDonald family went through.

“We bought four of them for, like, $12 dollars,” she said. “It’s a very easy, cheap fix to avoid such a horrible accident.”