The parents of an 11-year-old girl have been ordered to pay an extraordinary sum in compensation after their daughter paralyzed an infant by dropping an apple from their balcony.On March 9, 2018, 3-month-old Tongtong was in the arms of her grandmother, taking a walk outside of their Dongguan apartment building when the fruit plummeted down and landed straight on the baby’s head.The blow knocked the newborn unconscious and caused severe swelling in her head.She was quickly rushed to the hospital where doctors diagnosed her with severe head trauma, skull fractures, ruptured blood vessels in the skull, and traumatic shock.After undergoing surgery to relieve the bleeding in her brain, she remained in a coma.Doctors told her family that even if she wakes up, it’s likely that the right side of her brain will be clinically dead.Her current condition is not clear, though she is referred to as “paralyzed” in reports.Using DNA obtained from the apple, police were able to find the culprit who dropped the apple — an 11-year-old girl who lived on the 24th floor of the apartment building.The girl’s father told reporters that his daughter was trying to feed their dog when the apple accidentally got dropped out of the window.She was alone at home at the time.The girl’s father promised to take responsibility for the mistake. About a week after the incident, it was reported that he had given the family 30,000 yuan ($4,700) while Tongtong’s medical bills reached 130,000 yuan ($20,500).He will now have to pay just a bit more.On Tuesday, a court in Dongguan delivered an online verdict, ruling that the 11-year-old girl’s guardians must pay 1.85 million yuan ($261,000) in compensation.The verdict has been cheered on Chinese social media, which typically holds strong views on preteens committing crimes and objects being dropped from windows, aka “killer litter.”Be a part of Shanghai's largest,
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