A parent has urged others to keep their kids away from at-home exercise machines after her toddler suffered a horror injury. Photo / Getty Images
A parent has urged others to keep their kids away from at-home exercise machines after her toddler suffered a horror injury. Photo / Getty Images
One parent has issued a warning to others after her child was left with third degree burns caused by a commonly-used exercise machine.
The mum of four took to Reddit to reveal that her 16-month-old son was left needing skin grafts after a treadmill accident, reports parenting site Kidspot.
“I have four kids. I feel like with almost a decade of parenting experience, I have a pretty good radar for danger, but also a pretty good relaxed attitude about letting kids be kids without hovering over them every minute,” she explained on the forum.
“I did not even consider the treadmill. We have a treadmill in our basement that I use, but lately my oldest son has started using it in the mornings to run before school.
“Two and a half weeks ago my son was running and I was helping my daughter brush her hair before school. My toddler followed his brother downstairs, touched the treadmill, and got both hands caught in the spinning belt.
“My son immediately got off, freed his brother and brought him to me.”
Her child was referred to a burns clinic for treatment, where he was diagnosed with third degree burns on both hands.
His mum explained that he “needed to have full thickness skin grafts harvested from his thigh and applied to both hands” and revealed that “the recovery has been really hard” on the toddler.
A mum has warned against letting young kids get too close to treadmills. Photo / 123rf
She went on to say that countless people she’s spoken with since had no idea that treadmills could pose such a danger.
“Watch your kids near the treadmill,” she urged.
Her story struck a chord with others, who shared their own experiences. One noted that you shouldn’t place a treadmill with its back to the wall as “you need space for an entire body to fall off the back of the treadmill” to avoid getting stuck in the belt.
Another person shared that their younger brother had been caught in a treadmill when he was a child. “He got a burn on his shoulder, and has always had a little oval scar there.”
Another shared that their niece lost chunks of her hair after being caught in the belt of a treadmill.
“She was running on the treadmill and lost her footing ... she fell and went flying off. Unfortunately her hair got caught in the belt and she lost many chunks right out of her scalp,” they wrote.
“It was very scary and a wake-up call.”
And one recalled experiencing a similar accident themselves when they were young that’s left them with scars.
“It only took a few busy moments for my mother to miss the fact I had wandered into the basement where my father was running,” they shared.
“He, of course, could not hear that something was wrong until I started screaming. Happy to say I have no memory of the event, and that I have a fair amount of scarring on my fingers, but mostly full motion and no limitations.
