I am writing this is to make more aware of just how dangerous television sets are in the home. This may not seem all that important or real to many but after the experience my niece had this past spring it is very real.
It was a Wednesday at around 6 in the evening that she heard a woman screaming hysterically outside. The young woman was screaming for help and looked frantic. My niece and her fiancé
ran across the street to find out what was the matter only for the woman to motion for them to enter her home. She was crying uncontrollably something about her daughter and the television.
My niece and her fiancé followed her into the house to discover the television set had fallen over and under it was this tiny little body. Together they lifted the television off of the child and found her with massive amounts of blood and head trauma. Her fiancé called 9-1-1 while she got the woman to show her where towels were to be found.
The two of them were doing CPR on the child as the paramedics came in the doors. She was taken to the hospital as my niece got the mother and other sibling together to follow in her vehicle. Her fiancé went around the house making sure it was all locked up as they went out. At the hospital, the medical team tried everything they could to stabilize the child so she could go in medical transport to the children's hospital an hour away by car. Sadly this little girl passed en route to the children's hospital.
When the police questioned the mother as to what had taken place they found she had stepped out of the family room to change the diaper of the sibling. While she was out of the room the 3 year old tried to climb up the front of the television cabinet. On inspection of the cabinet there was nothing that would be for a child above where the television once was. She apparently just wanted to climb in that area and this was a tragic accident.
Most of the homes in America have at least one television set. This could happen in any home that has small children within it, even if they only visit. In doing some research and talking with manufacturers of televisions, there are ways to anchor them, so that this tragedy doesn't have to happen again. I do not have small children living in my home but I remember when my children were young and things they got into when I just left the room to use the bathroom. Sadly, it only takes a moment for a child to get into something. Usually it is harmless enough but it is those moments that aren't harmless that this is brought home to us.
This is also a safety precaution for older adults as well. Televisions are heavy objects and can break a foot or worse a leg. The time and expense it takes to make sure your television can not tip easily forward is so well worth it. If this only gets one person motivated to do something in their home to fix this problem then it is well worth it.
Our families television is in a cabinet and I cut a piece of wood the width of the inside measurement of the cabinet and secured it with “L” brackets just below and in front of the top of the television. It does not interfere with the picture since it up higher. There are also anchor sets available for manufacturers and stores that sell televisions, so they can be anchored to the wall if necessary.
We take the time to baby proof our homes for all sorts of dangers; this is one that most do not think of. I know I never did until this happened.
