Chicago Window Cleaner Critical - Sydney Window Cleaner Stable

The man, whose age was not immediately available, fell from a chair while cleaning windows about 8 a.m. on the sixth floor of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the 200 block of East Huron.

Window Washer Critically Injured After 6-Story Fall From Northwestern Memorial Hospital: A window washer was critically injured after falling six stories from a Chicago hospital building Wednesday morning. Police said the man fell from the sixth floor of Northwestern Memorial Hospital in the 200 block of Huron Street around 8 a.m. The hospital's Galter Pavilion was seen blocked off with police tape.

The man was taken into the hospital for treatment and was listed in critical condition, officials said.

"Given the situation and location of the incident, several Northwestern Medicine medical professionals nearby responded to provide on-site emergency care," the hospital said in a statement. "The individual was transferred to the emergency department and is currently being evaluated by staff."

He broke two legs and has internal injuries, but is expected to be OK. "I think the net or something like that broke down and he fell. He broke his legs and everything," a witness said. Northwestern Memorial Hospital staff rushed out of the building and brought the window washer into the emergency room. "I know he's in surgery but that's all I know right now," Carlos Perez, SEIU Local 1, said.

The window washer works for Corporate Clearning Services. The company says the man fell while working from a chair to clean windows at the hospital. They noted that this is "the first incident of its kind in the company's 21-year history." There have been reports of citations by OSHA for "minor violations five years ago" but the company says "neither violation was related to any incident with an employee."

"This is one of our most experienced and dedicated employees and we are focused on providing assistance to him and his family as he undergoes various medical tests and procedures," the company said in a statement. "We are also working closely with investigators so that we can better understand exactly how this happened and to ensure it doesn’t happen again.” The Service Employees International Union said the worker was a member of the union.

"Chicago’s window washers risk their lives every day as they step over the edge of our city's skyscrapers," the union said in a statement. "We pray for this worker's speedy recovery.”

The cause of the fall was not immediately known. Chicago Police are investigating the incident.

A hospital spokeswoman said the injured man was in a stable condition in hospital on Thursday morning.

Window cleaner falls from Apple Store on George Street: A window cleaner was seriously injured when he fell three storeys from the Apple Store in Sydney's CBD and struck a bus shelter before landing on the ground. The man, believed to be aged in his 40s, was taken to St Vincent's Hospital with injuries to his pelvis, spine and head after the accident on George Street about 8.30pm on Wednesday. A hospital spokeswoman said the injured man was in a stable condition in hospital on Thursday morning.

The man was believed to be one of three window cleaners working on the Apple Store's glass facade when he plummeted to the ground while preparing to abseil down the building. The man struck the top of the bus shelter, located in front of the Apple Store, before landing on the footpath. Witnesses said his cleaning equipment, including a bucket and a rope, was scattered around him.

Several people were believed to be standing in the bus shelter when the cleaner struck the roof. They were not injured. A WorkCover NSW spokeswoman said an inspector would be sent to examine the scene of the incident. She said the man was believed to have been using an abseiling device when he fell about three metres.

Apple released a statement saying the organisation was "shocked to learn of the accident last night involving a contractor cleaning the windows of our Sydney retail store". "We're doing everything we can to make sure he has the best care possible to help him make a full recovery," the statement said.

"Health and safety is our top priority for everyone who works and shops in our stores, so we're conducting a full investigation aimed at preventing any future accidents like this." Police taped off a section of the footpath outside the Apple Store and traffic was diverted while paramedics treated the man.

The man fell three storeys at the flagship George Street store.

The NZ Window Washer Who Survived

Giant fall but she's fearless: The teenager who miraculously survived a 30m fall on to concrete can't wait to get back into abseiling. For the first time, 18-year-old Louisa Kuypers, a window washer, has spoken about what happened last Friday afternoon, after she launched herself off the roof of an office building in Auckland's Newmarket. "The rope was meant to stretch then tighten up, but I could feel it had gone further. "I don't remember the fall exactly, but apparently people in the office heard me scream."

Unconscious, Kuypers was rushed to Auckland City Hospital's intensive care unit. She had five dislocated ribs, a hairline fracture in her eye socket and broken bones in her neck, ankle, shoulder and collarbone. "There's a pretty small chance of surviving a fall from that height," Kuypers said from her hospital bed yesterday. The roof did not have "eye bolts" where the abseiling ropes would usually be attached, she said. "The guy I was working with isn't coping too well. There's no blame, but he blames himself."

It was the second miraculous escape from abseiling in three months. Mikaela Blayney, 20, fell from the Event Cinema building in Aotea Square in December during an acrobatic performance. But both Blayney and Kuypers said they planned to get back into abseiling. "We're always outside, always abseiling. I want to get back to work," Kuypers said.

Broken Back, Ribs, Ankle, Collarbone, Bruising & A Punctured Lung

Abseiler remembers 'quick drop' - The 18-year-old abseiling window-cleaner who fell four storeys remembers a sense of weightlessness as she plummeted about 30m to the ground. Louisa Kuypers was taken to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition after falling from the roof of a Lion Breweries building in Newmarket around 2.30pm on Friday. Her condition has since improved to stable, although she remains in hospital with injuries including a broken back, ribs, ankle, collarbone, deep bruising and a punctured lung.

Initial CT scans indicated Ms Kuypers had not suffered brain injuries, and medical experts have labelled her survival extraordinary. Her father, Gilbert Kuypers, spent yesterday morning at the hospital and said because of pain medication his daughter was drowsy and still trying to come to terms with the accident. "She remembered that she just fell off, and it was just a quick drop, and she only remembers the weightlessness feeling of it, and that was the end of it. She just went blank after that."

Ms Kuypers' colleague had just completed an abseil drop, and when she got over the side of the building and put her weight on the equipment, "the whole lot let go". Mr Kuypers said, "I'm very confident when she finally gets a bit more out of the pain management that she will be able to recall more of what's happened." He said only a couple of weeks ago she had to be rescued after a piece of her gear malfunctioned and she became stuck mid-abseil.

Since then she had used brand-new equipment, so Mr Kuypers felt the fall was unlikely to have been caused by a gear malfunction. "Maybe the procedures weren't done properly ... the only thing we can say is something obviously has gone wrong. "Whether it's a systematic error, or a gear failure ..." A witness to the accident told the Herald a metal anchor which attached Ms Kuypers to the building fell to the ground with her. The Department of Labour is investigating with the help of Ms Kuypers' employers, At Height, who could not be reached for comment yesterday. 

The accident is the third industrial-rope accident in eight months. A Wellington window washer fell from a building last June and a woman abseiling performance artist plunged 14m down a wall in Auckland's Aotea Square in December. Mr Kuypers said he would be encouraging his daughter to find a new career. But he said she was naturally adventurous and credited her fitness from activities such as kayaking and motocross as helping to save her life. "She's been over the Huka Falls [kayaking] already, twice. So she pushes it a bit." Ms Kuypers has also landed small parts in television shows including Shortland Street and Go Girls.

Her father said he would eventually visit the Lion building to see just how far Ms Kuypers had fallen, but was amazed she had survived the plunge. "There must be a lot of angels out there. And I'm sure they work hard." St John medical director Tony Smith said for Ms Kuypers to survive a four-storey fall was extraordinary. He said sometimes a harness could slow a fall down, as opposed to an unsupported free fall. "I don't know whether that was the case or not, but we can say that her survival in terms of the height she fell was extraordinary. And she's a very, very lucky young woman."

Dr Smith said the fact that Ms Kuypers fell in a way that protected her head from major injury was crucial. An American study of 200 falls showed a person is just as likely to survive a five-storey fall landing feet-first as they are a one-storey fall head-first. A New York doctor who had dealt with a high number of falls said in 2008 that the death rate from a three-storey fall was about 50 per cent.

Dad wants answers over window cleaning accident: The father of a teenage window cleaner who survived a four-storey fall wants answers on how the accident happened. Louisa Kuypers plunged 30 metres while scaling an office building in the Auckland suburb of Newmarket. For the thrill-seeking 18-year-old abseil window-washing was a natural career choice and her father Gilbert Kuypers told ONE News she was so happy in the job she "would have done it almost for nothing".

But Gilbert worried about his daughter's safety. "I just dropped her off before the accident and I said, you know, be careful. And she's 'oh yeah, always do that'. And all of a sudden, bang, you know, she's in hospital, and all we're looking at is just a nose and a pair of eyes sticking out of bandages." After falling from the top of the Lion Breweries building on Friday, the teen is making a remarkable recovery. She is in a stable condition, and talking. But her dad still wants answers about how the accident happened. He says Louisa was working with another window washer at the time of the accident - a more experienced man.

"If the person is senior he should know stuff and if he isn't then he should have been trained. Somewhere, something isn't quite right," Gilbert said. Louisa's employer, a company called At Height, has not responded to calls from ONE New. The Labour Department is investigating the accident - the third industrial rope fall in just eight months, although none were fatal. An emergency department clinician who helped save Louisa says hers is a remarkable case and he believes wearing a helmet "helped immensely". "I don't recall seeing anyone who's fallen quite so far and who has come out so relatively unscathed," Dr Mike Nichols said. It may be another six months before the cause of the accident is fully known.

Man seriously injured after roof fall: A man has been taken to hospital in a serious condition after he fell through the roof of a building early this morning. The man, who is around 20-years-old, fell through the roof behind the Dick Smith building on Karangahape Rd in Ponsonby. Auckland Central acting inspector Danny Meade said one police car was sent to the incident at 4.42am. ''We had been sent by ambulance after a man had fallen through the roof of a building behind the Dick Smith building,'' he said. It is unclear what the man was doing on top of the building. Meanwhile, an Auckland woman who fell 30m while suspended off the side of the Lion Nathan Building in Newmarket earlier this week is in a stable condition. Louisa Kuypers, 18, was abseiling down the building on Carlton Gore Rd when the metal anchor she was attached to is believed to have broken off, sending her plummeting three storeys. The window cleaner was taken to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition.

NZ Window Cleaner Stable After Fall

Stable: Louisa Kuypers.

Condition improves for four-storey fall victim: An 18-year-old abseiling window cleaner who fell four storeys off an Auckland building has improved overnight, according to her mother. Window cleaner Louisa Kuypers was suspended off the side of a Lion Breweries building in Newmarket when she fell about 30m to the ground around 2.30pm yesterday. An ambulance took her to Auckland City Hospital in a critical condition. She has improved in hospital overnight, and was today in a stable condition, a hospital spokesman said. Her mother, Josie Kuypers, was working a 12-hour shift at Waitakere Hospital when she was phoned with news of the accident. She taxied to Auckland City Hospital still in her uniform to see how her daughter was. "Going in the taxi, I had no idea what was happening. I'd just heard that she'd had an accident, so that was a bit freaky. I was trying not to panic.''

When she arrived, the teenager appeared to be in pain and could only moan, she said: "She wasn't really with it. I think she knew we were there, but she was pretty out of it still.'' After falling an estimated four storeys, Louisa has fractured ribs and a suspected fractured collarbone. She has large bruises across parts of her body where she landed, Ms Kuypers said. A laceration on her head appeared to be only superficial, and doctors said Louisa had no brain injuries, she said. "To think she fell all that way and only fractured a few bones.''

Louisa's father Gilbert, two brothers Michael and Chris, and boyfriend Nick Son gathered with Ms Kuypers at the patient's bedside last night. Ms Kuypers and Louisa's boyfriend were going to stay all night, but decided she was just sleeping. She said her daughter was still too "out of it'' to talk when she left last night, and could only make noises. It was still not clear what happened before the fall, she said. "Hopefully today we'll find out a bit more.'' Ms Kuypers woke at 5.30 this morning to phone in and check on her daughter after the night. After the good news today, Ms Kuypers is getting ready to pick up Lousia's boyfriend and grandmother, Lois, to spend the day in hospital.

She has been fielding non-stop texts and phone calls from family and friends eager to see how Louisa was, with one friend offering to fly up from Wanganui yesterday. Ms Kuypers credited her daughter's fitness and strength from outdoor activities as aiding her recovery. Witnesses were "horrified'' and left shaken after seeing the window cleaner fall while on the job yesterday. The Department of Labour is investigating.

Cleaner's plunge shock for mother: It was second time unlucky for the mother of a young abseiling window cleaner who survived a four-storey plummet on Friday. Louisa Kuypers, 18, had been suspended off the side of a building tenanted by Lion in Newmarket, Auckland, when she fell about 30m to the ground. She is in Auckland City Hospital in a stable condition, improving from critical on Friday. Her mother, Josie Kuypers, said yesterday it was the second fall involving a young female abseiler inside two months and she had assumed it was her daughter both times. The first time, at the Metro Centre in early December, it turned about to be another woman.

She said Louisa was one of only a few women her age who abseiled as part of their profession, so friends and family always worried when they heard there had been an accident. "She's always done lots of crazy things, kayaking and caving." When Kuypers first saw her daughter after the accident on Friday, she appeared to be in a lot of pain and could only moan. The teenager managed to sleep on Friday night, and woke in an improved state. She has broken ribs and a suspected broken collarbone. She has large bruises across parts of her body where she landed, Kuypers said. A laceration on her head appeared to be only superficial, and doctors said Louisa had no brain injuries, she said.

"To think she fell all that way and only fractured a few bones." Meanwhile, the accident brought back memories for the woman who survived in December, Mikaela Blayney. "I thought 'oh no, not another one'. And she's so young as well, I felt so sorry for her." Blayney is making a steady recovery and will this week "learn how to walk again". She has been seeing a physio after breaking a metatarsal bone in a foot. She will also begin dental work this week to place crowns and one implant on all of her back teeth. Meanwhile, Lion staff have been offered counselling after the "disturbing" event on Friday, said external relations director Liz Read.

Repeated industrial rope falls 'not good enough': Safety standards are being examined after a teenage window cleaner survived a four-storey fall from an Auckland building yesterday. Eighteen year-old Louisa Kuypers was cleaning windows at the Lion Nathan Building in Newmarket yesterday afternoon when she fell 30 metres from the roof of the building. She was admitted to Auckland Hospital with severe injuries and is now in stable condition. The accident is the third industrial rope accident in eight months and has prompted the industry to ask whether safety standards are being followed well enough.

A Wellington window washer fell from the fifth floor of a building last June and an abseiling performance artist plunged 14 metres down a wall in Auckland's Aotea Square in December. The industry needs to sharpen up its act, ONE News heard from Thomas Croft, an industrial rope expert. "We're happy because nobody's died but it's getting a little bit close at the moment. Three in a short time period, it's just not good enough," he said. Newmarket office workers say Kuypers had just started scaling the top of the Lion Breweries building when she dropped, along with a metal anchor used to attach herself to the roof.

Industry standards require anyone doing this work to use two anchors or two lines - one as a backup in case the first fails - and the farthest a person should fall is 60 centimetres. "For somebody to fall that far in a compliant system means that both anchors would have had to fail, which is highly unlikely," said Croft.