Sleepwalking Man Plummets From Eighth-Story Window in New York City

A man in New York was injured after he fell from an eighth-story window.

According to the New York Post, Randy Phothisane, 35, of Rochester, New York, allegedly took a few of his girlfriend’s sleeping pills before going to sleep on the night of Sunday, Jan. 28. At around 5 a.m., Phothisane, who has a history of sleepwalking, rose from the bed and climbed out of an eighth-story window of the apartment in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood, plummeting six stories before landing on scaffolding.

Phothisane suffered broken leg, a broken rib, injured both his torso and back in the fall. Firefighters helped him back to safety and he was then taken to Bellevue Hospital.

“Thank God he is alive. I really don’t know how he fell. I am really worried about him,” his mother, Pamela Phothisane, said. “Next time maybe he won’t be so lucky.”

Sleepwalking isn’t entirely uncommon, with about 3.6% of adults prone to the habit and a reported third of Americans doing it at some point during their lives. Doctors warn that those taking over-the-counter sleeping pills are more likely to have reported having at least two sleepwalking episodes a month.

“The part of the brain responsible for physical movement is active, while the part of the brain responsible for executive functioning is asleep,” Dr. Mark Mahowald, a study researcher and co-founder of the sleep-disorder research center Sleep Forensic Associates, told The Times Union in December. “Therefore, the sleepwalker can perform activities that require tremendous agency, even injuring themselves or others, without being culpable for their actions.”