Dad on awning accident: 'I thought I'd lost my boys'

The 10-year-old boy who suffered a head injury after a store awning fell on him in Mundelein spent his Memorial Day resting, his father said.

Lake Barrington resident James Beers said Monday he alternates between anger that the Sunday afternoon accident happened at all and profound relief that his two sons weren't hurt more seriously.

"I couldn't sleep at all last night because I just kept replaying it over and over in my head," he said. "Any parent will understand that. When it happened, I really thought I'd just lost my boys. It was so awful."

Most seriously injured was 10-year-old Cameron Beers, who suffered a head wound.

"He doesn't remember much about what happened," James Beers said. "I'm actually grateful for that."

Cameron was standing with his 13-year-old brother, Jimmy, and his brother's two friends in front of King David Airsoft and Hobbies on Butterfield Road shortly before noon on Sunday when an awning fell off the building and landed on them.

The cut on Cameron's head required 18 staples to close. The other three children escaped with minor injuries, though one of Jimmy's friends was examined for a concussion, James Beers said.

Why the awning fell remains unclear. Investigators from the Mundelein Building Department are expected to study the matter this week.

Beers said he was sitting in his car near the store when the awning fell.

"The kids had gotten out of the car to do some window shopping," he said. "I looked down at my phone for a second and when I looked up, I saw my son's shoes disappear underneath that awning. It was like the worst nightmare you can imagine."

Beers bolted from the car to tend to his son, who was bleeding profusely, he said. Bystanders rushed out with first-aid materials to help him.

"I was pretty much holding my son's head together at that point," Beers said. "A lot of good Samaritans - I have no idea who they were, but I want to say 'thank you' to all of them - handed me things like gauze pads to help stop the bleeding."

Cameron was taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville. He was back home by Sunday evening.

"He's still in a lot of pain, but today he's gotten up and walked around a bit, which was really great to see," Beers said.

King David's Airsoft and Hobbies is owned by David Tsao, who told ABC 7 that he rents the space from a landlord. He was visibly upset after the accident and shared surveillance video footage with reporters, ABC 7 reported.

"I have a 14- and 15-year-old," he told ABC 7. "This is something I wouldn't want to happen to my own child."