A mom of three revealed a tragic incident that occurred three years where her then 12-month-old daughter fractured her leg. The mom and her daughter were coming down the slide together when the incident occurred.
A Park Tragedy
In September 2015, Heather Clare and her twins, Meadow and Matthew, were at the Heckscher Park in Huntington, New York for a day of enjoyment and fun. Heather took Mattew down a 10-foot-long slide and after they were done, Heather took Meadow up there as well.
After placing Meadow on her lap, the two went down the same slide, Heather noticed halfway down the slide that Meadow's foot was caught between herself and the slide.
Heather's husband captured the moment and the picture was shared on Heather's social media. In the picture, Meadow's right leg is trapped between the slide and Heather and it was twisted in the opposite direction. Heather and her daughter were both smiling in the picture as they seemed to be unaware of what had taken place.
"When we got down to the bottom of the slide, she was crying badly. It was terrible, especially feeling like I put her in that position. It was completely avoidable," Heather stated. The accident took place three days after Meadow took her first steps.
Meadow was rushed to the emergency room where doctors informed Heather and her husband that Meadow fractured the tibia and fibula in her right leg. Meadow had to spend the next four weeks sporting a pink cast on her right leg.
Heather's Pleas
Heather was also informed by doctors who treated her daughter that slide injuries are quite common among children. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, over 350,000 children that were under the age of six years old were injured on slides in the United States between the years 2002 to 2015.
Toddlers between the ages of 12-23 months old had the highest percentage of injuries with the majority of them being fractured legs.
The information was gathered from the study conducted in 2017.
Heather has stated that Meadow has made full recovery from her injury, despite concerns that her injury would cause her leg to grow shorter than the other that was not injured. Heather continues to share her daughter's story and advise parents not to be on slides with their children. Her photo on Facebook has received over 88,000 shares and 10,000 reactions.
