COLUMBIA, SC (WIS) - A USC student is still in critical condition more than a day after he fell out of his fifth-floor dorm window and landed on a first-floor roof early Friday morning.
According to University of South Carolina officials, the student fell out of the Capstone Residence Hall around 2:30am Friday and landed on the first floor roof of the Gibbes Food Court.
Officials say 18-year-old Taylor Cothran from Greenville was severely injured and transported to Palmetto Health Richland Memorial Hospital. He remains in intensive care and, according to school officials, in grave condition. The family pastor says the family is asking for prayer during this difficult time.
"For a mother or father to see or to know that one of their children has been hurt. I'm a parent myself and there's just no greater pain for a parent," said Director of Student Development Gene Luna.
At this time, they say it appears to be accidental, but USC Police and SLED are investigating. Officials say Cothran was alone in the room at the time, and a second-floor resident heard a noise, saw Cothran's body and called the police.
We were allowed to look inside one of the rooms on the fourth floor, just to see what kind of windows are in the rooms.
The windows only open slightly, and the broken glass indicates this wasn't a case where the student fell out of an open window.
"We had a standard that we had established that we didn't want windows that would open more than ten inches, so we didn't want students falling through open windows. We always wanted the window itself to be a barrier to that," Luna told WIS News 10.
Over 570 USC freshmen live in Capstone as part of the Capstone Scholars program and the Honors College.
Count on WIS News 10 to bring you any updates to this developing story.
Reported by Brandi Cummings
Updated by Bryce Mursch
Taylor Cothran
Capstone Residence Hall
