Anyone With Small Children -- Please Read!

[Nigel Tufnel]

Hey guys, just wanted to take a minute to share a very difficult learning experience...hopefully it will help anyone with small children. If any of you own a treadmill, for God's sake, don't let your little children anywhere near it...even if you are there.

Last Wednesday while I was at work, my wife was walking on our treadmill. We have a 3 year old, 2 year old (2 on New Year's Eve) and a newborn. (I'm going to the doctor very soon....lol) The two children play in our basement while my wife walks on the treadmill in a side room in the basement. My 2 year old daughter walked into the small room where my wife was walking on the treadmill...she dropped a toy...it bounced off the floor under the treadmill...before my wife could stop her, my daughter reached under the treadmill. It burned her two middle fingers down to the bone. 3rd degree burns on both fingers. We took our daughter to the Cincinnati Shriner's Burn Unit (luckily for us, one of the best in the country)...they told us to bandage the burns last week, scheduled an appointment yesterday and skin graft surgery for tomorrow...we went for our scheduled appointment yesterday and, by the graces of God, the doctor didn't think skin graft surgery was necessary. He said she will have some pretty bad scarring on her fingers, but that the burns didn't seem to affect the functionality of her fingers....as a result, the skin graft surgery wasn't necessary. We have to take her in every couple of weeks so they can keep an eye on the healing process....we aren't out of the woods yet...but the doctor seemed optimistic that surgery wouldn't be necessary. He said he could have done the surgery, but it basically would have been more for cosmetic purposes and he said since the functionality of her fingers wasn't affected by the burns, it wasn't worth it to put such a young child through surgery.

The shocking thing I learned yesterday....the doctor said they get more children's burns from treadmills than anything else....he said they get a child treadmill burn victim once every 2 to 3 weeks!!! The burn unit in Cincy is actually putting together research on it because of the frequency in burns from treadmills. A lot of large cities don't have specialized children's burn units like Cincy...and the Shriner's Burn Unit gets all the treadmill burns referred to them in the greater Cincinnati area so they are seeing how much of a problem this really is....other cities send treadmill burns to hand specialists or plastic surgeons, so other cities don't have the data to see how dangerous treadmills are to small children.

If you own a treadmill and have or are going to have small children, please don't let them near it...if you know anyone that has a treadmill and children, please forward this info to them. Putting things into perspective, my little angel could have lost her fingers....it could have been a lot worse....at the same time, she is in a lot of pain (the healing process is painful with serious burns)....it sucks...I hate to see her in pain...but pain is a good thing. For the first week, she wasn't in any pain because the burns were so severe...now that her little fingers are healing, she is bleeding and her fingers hurt.

We are very lucky it wasn't much worse....but we've learned a very valuable lesson....DON'T LET YOUR CHILDREN NEAR YOUR TREADMILL.....EVER! The next time my wife gets on that treadmill (I'm surprised she hasn't told me to sell it or throw it away), the baby gates are going up and there will be no chance that the children even get in the room. Also, if you aren't using the treadmill, keep the damn thing unplugged so your children can't turn it on and hurt themselves.

Happy Holidays!

[USFMD82]

Thanks for the tip, Ill keep it in mind if I ever have little ones, any research being done on how to actually make the woman use the treadmill once you get it

Glad to hear things aren't as bad as they could have been

[Larry]

Im glad your daughter is all right Nigel. I have 3 children myself(7,5,and 3) and nothing is worse then when they get a serious injury.

[Queen]

Thank you Nigel for sharing the story. I hope your daughter heals up real soon. After she's all healed up, buy some Vitamin E caps. Poke a hole in the end of the pill. The liquid will ooze out. Rub it on the scars. Trust me it will make them heal better. It lightens the scar tissue. I know it's painful for her. I got 2nd degree burns on my hand when I was 2 1/2 years old, I got up on the stool to see what my mother was cooking and she had left the front burner on and I touched it. The funny thing about that was back in 1965 putting the place you got burned in ice water was still not a proven fact. When my mother called my dad to tell him at work what had happened he told her to put my hand in ice water. Well I stopped screaming. When she took it out I would scream. So They took me to do doctor and he chewed her out for doing that. He told her she could have caused Frost Bite on my hand. LMAO. But getting back to the Vitamin E my grandma told my mother after my hand was all healed up to put that on my hand. You could not tell to this day I got burnt real bad back then. One thing the doctor told my mother back then was I was young enough for my skin to heal it's ownself back. Sounds to me like that's what the doctor is telling you.

You would think that if so many kids get burnt that way that the Goverment would make them fix that defect. Your the lawyer sounds to me like there should be some kind of warning on those things. Looks like they would have to put some kind of protective skirt around the bottom. Look in your bar book for a guy by the name of Scott Segal in Charleston WV big time product defect lawyer, I mean Big Time.

[homedawg]

Originally Posted by Queen

back in 1965 .

When I played with matches, my father put my hands into the flame on the stove...... now my skin on my hands are as tough as leather....

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Sorry to hear that about your daughter, Nigel, I hope all turns out well

damm I'm lucky to raise 2 accident prone girls, with no scars (on them, or myself) to show for it...

[Nigel Tufnel]

Originally Posted by homedawg

When I played with matches, my father put my hands into the flame on the stove...... now my skin on my hands are as tough as leather....

.....................................

Sorry to hear that about your daughter, Nigel, I hope all turns out well

damm I'm lucky to raise 2 accident prone girls, with no scars (on them, or myself) to show for it...

Don't blame your father because your hands are tough as leather...jerking off ten times a day probably had more to do with it...lol...you could use some lotion, you know.

Queen...there are warnings that come with the equipment...there probably could be a protective layer of plastic across the bottom...but then there may be some issues with the treadmill overheating. You see warnings everywhere you go...some are warranted...some are excessive (thanks to us lawyers)....what would be wise is if the Cincinnati Shriner's Burn Unit does do a research paper on treadmill burns, maybe that should be put in the box with the treadmill. Its obvious that you don't want to put your fingers under a treadmill...but instantaneous 3rd degree burns....wow. I don't want to sue anyone....I would much rather spread the word and educate people based on my daughter's experience.

Thanks everyone for the kind words...and like I said, spread the word...don't let your children or any young ones you love anywhere near those damn things.

Thanks.

[homedawg]

Originally Posted by Nigel Tufnel

Don't blame your father because your hands are tough as leather...jerking off ten times a day probably had more to do with it....

never close to a fire....

[MacDaddy]

What is a treadmill?

[Nigel Tufnel]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy

What is a treadmill?

Ummm...I know you're joking...but honestly, I don't find the humor with everything my 2 year old has gone through...to answer your question, something you may never own...but if you do or anyone you know does, something to make sure little children NEVER get near.

[Queen]

Well Nigel the best way I know to spread the news is to call up the newspaper and tell them what happened to your daughter and maybe they would want to do an article on what happened to her. You know couple years back I read an article on and I was bad about doing this...A little kid climbed up on open dresser drawers and the thing turned over on him and sad to say it killed him. I never left open a dresser draw in my house again. I got a 6 year old and it freaked me out.

[Billy Barooooooo]

Glad to hear your daughter is going to be all right!

Thanks for sharing. On Christmas Eve one of the kids at my brother-in-laws slipped and hit his head on the tread mill in the basement! It wasn't even on. Cut a Hugh gash in his head and he was bleeding all over the place! The mother was freaking out. We called the hospital but they said just to keep it covered! Of course he didn't and blood was all over the white couches!!!!

What a night!

Have a happy new year!


BB

[CuseFan10]

Glad to hear she's doing well, Nigel. My nephews are 3 and 5 and they "run" on the treadmill all the time (on a very low level). It's actually incredibly beneficial for the 3 year old because he has Cystic Fibrosis and the exercise helps loosen up his mucus. I will definitely tell my brother and sister-in-law (and parents) about your trials and tribulations though and wish nothing but the best of health for your little girl.

[MacDaddy]

Originally Posted by Nigel Tufnel

Ummm...I know you're joking...but honestly, I don't find the humor with everything my 2 year old has gone through...to answer your question, something you may never own...but if you do or anyone you know does, something to make sure little children NEVER get near.

You are correct as I attempted to add humor to a scenario in which I shouldn't have. I wasn't trying to insult you. I have a 20 month old boy and a daughter due any day now. I fret everyday about their safety.

Glad to hear everything is O.K.

[Nigel Tufnel]

Originally Posted by MacDaddy

You are correct as I attempted to add humor to a scenario in which I shouldn't have. I wasn't trying to insult you. I have a 20 month old boy and a daughter due any day now. I fret everyday about their safety.

Glad to hear everything is O.K.

No worries, MacDaddy. I was being overly sensitive...I'm sorry, I know you meant nothing by it. Things were just rough at the time.

For an update, the little one is doing quite well. She doesn't need skin grafts to this point...we aren't out of the woods yet, but her fingers are healing incredibly. Children are unbelievably resilient. She is going to have some pretty bad scarring....but changing the bandages gets easier and easier each day.

Queen....I think my wife is going to contact the Cincinnati Enquirer....my mother suggested contacting a parent's magazine. The word does need to get out...it only takes a split second for innocent little fingers to get cauterized to the bone by treadmills. While its something that may seem like common sense....well, maybe people with little should just be reminded....being careful is good....but people need to take extra caution when dealing with little ones and treadmills.

Thanks to everyone for the kinds words....it means a lot.

[NittanyLions94]

Nigel, my best to you and your young ones. I work with young kids during the summer time and nothing is worse than seeing one of them get seriously injured, so I can only imagine what it is like to see one's own child in that situation(no kids for me as of now). Really hope everything ends up OK, but it all happens for a reason and we learn from every experience.