play parks

[LRM]

My seven year old was playing at thrumster play park on sunday and got his foot trapped under the roundabout which kept going. His leg was twisted and he broke both bones in his leg. Please tell your kids to be careful incase it happens to them. He is now in plaster and wishing he was out playing in the holidays!! A big thank you to all the people that helped him and to the staff at the A&E department who, as usual, were brilliant.

[cuddlepop]

I would suggest you report this matter to Highland Council TEC's department as it would appear the play equipment is faulty.:(
Hope your child's not too fed up this holiday,not alot of fun in a plaster cast.

[j4bberw0ck]

I've been involved in getting funding for a local playpark and I know of two other cases where the same thing's happened. In fact, I saw one happen and nearly broke my arm trying to stop the roundabout (which takes some doing!). It seems odd that there's no safety standard to prevent accidents like this - have you told the Community Council or Local Authority? It should be the Local Authority who's responsible for the safety and maintenance aspects because they carry the third party liability.

Trouble is, the usual answer from big bureaucracy is to close the playpark entirely - you'd need to be careful of that.

Hope your son is not in pain and not put off a bit of adventure.

[LRM]

I did think to write to the council but did not want to be the cause of the park being closed. What does everyone think?

[kc]

The same thing happened to my 7yr old last year (thankfully no broken bones ) I phoned the council who in time removed the roundabout and relocated it to flatter ground in the same park, The ground it had been on was very uneven /rough and unsafe.
There were two other cases in the same park as my sons incident, The council were very quick to make sure there were no injuries!!

[henry20]

I guess it depends on whether you view it as an error in judgement (I once fell of a swing, but it was my own fault for not holding on) or if there is a genuine risk of this happening again to other children.

I'm pretty sure when I was younger, I probably put my foot below the roundabout and therefore it was stupidity/naivity that would have been the cause if I'd hurt myself. But I do stick forks in the toaster while its still plugged in - not to mention almost drilling through my shower cable, so I really am an accident waiting to happen!!

I guess you need to work out whether you consider the event as a 'freak accident' or if you feel the playpark has fallen into a state of disrepair and is a danger to all children.

[BRIE]

I personally would be straight on to the council it must obviously be faulty.hope you son is back out playing soon.

[dragonfly]

I would report it if it was due to faulty/broken equipment but not if it was down to my kid being silly - my daughter once got her head stuck under the roundabout :eek: certainly nothing to do with the roundabout - most definatley her stupidity!!!

she was ok, just lost a few hairs and gained a few scratches :roll:

[the nomad]

I did think to write to the council but did not want to be the cause of the park being closed. What does everyone think?

Don't hesitate and contact them straight away so what if they close it better that than a child losing a leg, the equipment is faulty.

[Julia]

My seven year old was playing at thrumster play park on sunday and got his foot trapped under the roundabout which kept going. His leg was twisted and he broke both bones in his leg. Please tell your kids to be careful incase it happens to them. He is now in plaster and wishing he was out playing in the holidays!! A big thank you to all the people that helped him and to the staff at the A&E department who, as usual, were brilliant.

If you believe the play equipment to be at fault then not only would I contact the council I would sue them.

[badger]

Don't hesitate and contact them straight away so what if they close it better that than a child losing a leg, the equipment is faulty.

How can you state with certainty that this is so? Have you inspected it? If it was one of those like a big drum with rails on top to hold on, they can be quite dangerous if not used very carefully. I don't even know if they still exist but I would certainly watch a young child very carefully on one as they can be heavy to stop when going fast. This doesn't mean they are faulty. How can children ever learn about danger if everything is made so safe it is no longer fun? Almost any play equipment is dangerous in certain circumstances. Children have to learn or spend their lives in cotton wool.

Having said that, I would be distraught to see a child harmed in that way but I certainly wouldn't want the equipment removed without very good reason.

[Alice in Blunderland]

My kids from four up to ahem ......almost sixteen ??! use this play park on almost a daily basis to date without major incident. The children from the nursery also have often wandered over on a nice day to play at times. If it was me I would make the council aware of the incident and then leave it for them to make an assesment on the roundabout. If the roundabout is faulty then yes it should be removed to save any other child from injuring itself and if you think it is worth your while then you may wish to seek damages but this is your personal choice.

If the roundabout were to be removed the chances of the children getting a replacement are slim.

Last year one of the sets of swings were removed as they were in a bad condition and the council never replaced them, in time I suppose we will lose all the equipment in the park due to this very reason.The routine maintenance that used to be done regularly no longer seems to be a top priority. The children in the village have very little as it is and slowly but surely the couincil are reducing it by removing and not replacing faulty play equipment.

I hope your child has a speedy recovery and that they are back running around soon.

[Cinders392]

Last year one of the sets of swings were removed as they were in a bad condition and the council never replaced them, in time I suppose we will lose all the equipment in the park due to this very reason.The routine maintenance that used to be done regularly no longer seems to be a top priority. The children in the village have very little as it is and slowly but surely the couincil are reducing it by removing and not replacing faulty play equipment.

I completely agree here, its happening all around the county. Ackergill play park is in dis repair and was to be getting a brand new set of equipment last year but this never happened. I wrote to the council 2 months back who assured me that it would be replaced by easter at the latest. It it easter now and there has not been a hint of movement at the playpark. It still sits in the same state. I will probably have to get into some fund raising for it as I stated to the council and they said that the funds had been spent on parks in the Town.
Its a little wonder kids stay in and play this playstation or nintendo.

[Fluff]

If you believe the play equipment to be at fault then not only would I contact the council I would sue them.

And what would that achieve? Why are so many people so quick to want to sue?! accidents happen. yes fair enough if they were obviously negligent but we all know that is not always the case.

i remember a similar thing happning when i was little, i think it was my brothers friend. they didnt sue.

people and children learn from their mistakes, thats how we grow as people.

[mccaugm]

My seven year old was playing at thrumster play park on sunday and got his foot trapped under the roundabout which kept going. His leg was twisted and he broke both bones in his leg. Please tell your kids to be careful incase it happens to them. He is now in plaster and wishing he was out playing in the holidays!! A big thank you to all the people that helped him and to the staff at the A&E department who, as usual, were brilliant.

Something similar happened in Halkirk and the roundabout was removed very quickly. However its a mess now as nothing was put in to replace it.

[teddybear76]

takes me back to a time when i was about the same age (a long time ago).was staying in castletown with my cousin,we went to the swing park, on the roundabout, there was a few of us on it,so i had one feet on it and one feet on the ground pushing it round as kids do,my knee caught under it, and i was dragged round,so when i hear about what happened to the wee boy, it makes me shudder!!!

[LRM]

I am not interested in suing anyone or in getting the play park shut, I just want to make sure the same thing does not happen again. I would hate to see the council taking equipment away just because it is cheaper than maintaining it. My kids love going to the park too.

[The_man_from_del_monte]

My seven year old was playing at thrumster play park on sunday and got his foot trapped under the roundabout which kept going.

So he wasn't "on" the roundabout when this happened? If he got his foot trapped under the roundabout whilst it was revolving round it would suggest he wasn't actually "on" the roundabout.... how exactly did his foot end up under the roundabout?

[katarina]

I guess it depends on whether you view it as an error in judgement (I once fell of a swing, but it was my own fault for not holding on) or if there is a genuine risk of this happening again to other children.

I'm pretty sure when I was younger, I probably put my foot below the roundabout and therefore it was stupidity/naivity that would have been the cause if I'd hurt myself. But I do stick forks in the toaster while its still plugged in - not to mention almost drilling through my shower cable, so I really am an accident waiting to happen!!

I guess you need to work out whether you consider the event as a 'freak accident' or if you feel the playpark has fallen into a state of disrepair and is a danger to all children.

I would think that there should not be enough space below a roundabout for a childs leg to become trapped. this comes under avoidable - falling off a swing does not.

[The_man_from_del_monte]

Being technically minded I'm still interested to find out just how a child's leg becomes trapped "under" a roundabout whilst the roundabout is revolving around? Was the child jumping onto the roundabout whilst it was moving, was he hanging off the side of it (I used to love doing that when I was a child) or did he run up to it, slip, with his leg ending up under it?? If he got onto it when it wasn't moving, sat on it and had a good whirl and then got off I just cannot understand how his foot should end up "under" the roundabout. Very easy to blame the roundabout but, like anything, if you don't use it as intended there is the possibility of injury.

[ice box]

Being technically minded I'm still interested to find out just how a child's leg becomes trapped "under" a roundabout whilst the roundabout is revolving around? Was the child jumping onto the roundabout whilst it was moving, was he hanging off the side of it (I used to love doing that when I was a child) or did he run up to it, slip, with his leg ending up under it?? If he got onto it when it wasn't moving, sat on it and had a good whirl and then got off I just cannot understand how his foot should end up "under" the roundabout. Very easy to blame the roundabout but, like anything, if you don't use it as intended there is the possibility of injury.
You took the words right out my mouth .

[LRM]

At no time did I say that it was the fault of the roundabout, my son was getting off it when his foot slipped under it. My point is that if it happened once it could happen again. I get the feeling that some people think if he was carrying on then it was his own fault. I think that things like this should not be able to happen i.e the gap should not be big enough for a foot to go under!!! Imagine how sore it was, your leg getting twisted so much that both bones snapped straight across.

[The_man_from_del_monte]

I think that things like this should not be able to happen i.e the gap should not be big enough for a foot to go under!!!

I'm very sorry to learn your son twisted his foot but to say that things like this should not be able to happen is, in a way, blaming the roundabout. I remember a few years ago a drunk French guy plugged his loudspeaker cables into the mains and electrocuted himself resulting in banana plugs being banned across Europe.... everybody suffered thanks to one silly person.

People shouldn't be able to jump off cliffs (but they can) people shouldn't be able to walk in front of a moving car (but they can) people shouldn't be able to fall off swings (but they can) people shouldn't be able to......... many things people shouldn't be able to do but sometimes it's impossible to make everything "so safe" to cover ever eventually. Unless we ban the use of anything that is potentially hazardous then it's down to good old common sense and experience (and learning from your mistakes) no point in blaming a door if you walk head first into it, no point blaming a pair of scissors if you cut your nose off with them.......

Life is all about learning from your mistakes and making sure they don't happen again...... unless people want to go through life surrounded by barriers and warning labels attached to everything or everything so "safe" it's not fun to use them then it's time to stop blaming objects and start learning how to use those objects. Accidents happen and 98% of the time the accidents are the fault of the individual and not the appliance they were misusing.

My two cents for what it's worth.