What have you done to protect your child today? I had to ask myself that question almost two weeks ago when I received news from my friend, Debbie Bolton, that her granddaughter was air lifted from DCH to Children's Hospital in Birmingham due to an injury. This particular type of injury doesn't get much press, but it should.

On October 24th, 2 year old Kallie Straughn of Northport was going through her morning routine with her mother Barbara and her siblings. They were getting ready for school. Barbara told me Kallie had been the recent recipient of an older model 20" TV. They had placed it on a night stand in Kallie's room.

 

Barbara was within arms reach of Kallie when it happened. We all know how quick toddlers are. Kallie had pulled the bottom drawer of the night stand out and stepped in it. The nightstand, TV and all, came falling down on Kallie. Kallie suffered multiple facial fractures and two skull fractures. From DCH, she was air lifted to Children's Hospital in Birmingham.

Kallie Straughn
Kallie (Oct 25th)
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Kallie's parents Barbara and KC Straughn are thankful she is doing fine. She developed spinal meningitis early on but according to Barbara, everything is going great now and Kallie will stay at Children's as a precautionary measure until at least the end of this week. Barbara and KC thank everyone for their continued prayers and also realize things could have been worse. According to a study from the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission:

On average, one child dies every 2 weeks when a TV, piece of furniture, or an appliance falls on
him, according to reports received by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
between 2000 to 2010.

 

Kallie was able to see her brothers and sisters Sunday (Oct 28th) and moved to a "regular room" on Monday (Oct 29th).

Kallie Straughn
Kallie with her Brothers and Sisters (Oct 28th)
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 This was an eye opener for me. Our everyday routines could be turned upside down in the blink of an eye. Most of us think we've got things under control until this kind of news slaps us in the face. I have a 3 year old. I immediately started an online search for anchoring systems. I found several sites similar to mypreciouskid.com that offer such systems.

I did a quick search on walmart.com  to no avail, but did find listed under child safety: cabinet locks, stove knob guards, bed rails, door knob guards, electrical outlet guards, toilet locks, harnesses and the list goes on.  There is no shortage of products to "child proof" your home. Sometimes, we just may not realize we need them. Kallie's story has a happy ending. She will get to go home soon. Barbara and KC wanted to share Kallie's story in hopes to make us think and do a double check around our homes. Simple things like TV anchors could save our child from an ordeal like this and could possibly save their life.

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