A mom warns parents against taking their kids for a ride down the slide after her daughter suffered broken bones from what may seem like harmless fun.
Dangers Of Going Down Slides
Heather Clare reminded parents about the safety of going down slides in a Facebook post that has now gone viral. The mother shared what happened to her 1-year-old daughter after she decided to bring her along for the fun.
The mom from Huntington, New York, shared a photo taken at the moment when she and daughter Meadow went down the slide. Clare is smiling in the snap, oblivious of what happened to Meadow's leg. The picture shows the little girl's right foot bent at an awkward angle.
"I went down the slide with her on my lap and her foot got caught between me and the slide. This picture is the moment her leg was breaking. She's still smiling... because it was happening at this exact moment, "Clare wrote.
The mom rushed her daughter to the emergency room. Meadow suffered multiple fractures to her leg. Clare recalled that she got a lecture from the attending physician about poor parenting. The doctor also informed her that her child's injury was much more common than she thought. Clare admitted that she had no idea about the danger of going down the slides, since she thought everyone takes their kids for a slide.
"For all of the common sense posts... it is literally one of the top 3 reasons young children are seen in the ER during the Spring and Summer," the mom cautioned.
Safety Measures
There really is no safe way to go down the slide with a child. Experts advised that parents tuck the child's legs between theirs, but Clare said that even if parents do this, the child's feet can still get stuck under their parents', which was what happened to Meadow. The mom said she initially had her daughter centered on her lap. The safest way is to have one person go down the slide one at a time.
Clare shared the photo, which was taken in 2015, as a reminder to all parents about taking precautionary measures to avoid playground injuries. The mom said she does this every year in hopes that the pain Meadow felt and the guilt she still feel will save another child and parents from going through the same experience.
