“It’s really been cool to educate families and hopefully prevent something serious from happening”
Once your toddler has grasped the skill of walking, their natural instinct is to run, climb, and explore everywhere in sight.
While this practice is great for their development and confidence, for a parent, it can feel like you’re constantly chasing them and taking them out of harm’s way.
One mum thought she had carried out the necessary checks when baby-proofing her house for her young family, but, of course, children, fearless as they are, will find the blind spots.
American mum-of-two Shayna, who is also a paediatric nurse and first aid business owner, was working from home when she heard a loud thud from the floor above, where her little son Brayden had been playing.
In a post on social media, Shayna (@the.medical.mamas) said her mum instinct kicked in immediately and she had a gut feeling of the where and how behind the sound.
Upon her arrival upstairs, she found that her bedroom’s chest of drawers had toppled onto her toddler son and was crushing him.
Her little boy had pulled open all the drawers inside the heavy, solid wood, dresser and had used them as stairs to climb to the top.
Luckily, the toddler was able to wriggle most of his body free, leaving just his leg caught under the bedroom furniture.
“He managed to escape it and just got his leg stuck in the gap between the bottom drawer and the floor (not actually stuck under the dresser by the grace of God),” Shayna explained.
Following the terrifying incident, the mum explained that she and her husband had attached their children’s furniture to the walls, but not their own, as they didn’t see the risk.
“You guys know I share medical educational stuff, motherhood, marriage, etc but this one was so hard for me to share,” she wrote.
“Total mum fail and it freaking mortifies me that he could’ve been seriously hurt. So, take my mistakes and learn from them.”
She later admitted to 7Life that many parents have reached out to say they never would have considered their bedroom to be a danger to their children.
“I have heard from parents thinking, ‘Oh my gosh I never would have thought about that’ and saying how grateful they are that this video went viral and they were able to be educated,” Shayna told the publication.
“It’s really been cool to educate families and hopefully prevent something serious from happening.”
Brayden’s near-miss has reaffirmed the need for all furniture to be securely anchored to the wall, as well as one report by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which states that nearly 18,000 people are hurt in tip-over incidents every year, per CBS News.
There have been over 200 deaths associated with furniture tip-overs, according to the report, with children most affected.
Of those deaths, the report reveals that nearly half involved a television and more than half of those involved children who were between one and three-years-old.
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