13 September 2023 , 11:01
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There has been a huge rise in the number of people using home gym equipment in recent years. Being able to work out without leaving the house is not only convenient, it's cost-effective and time-efficient - so it's little wonder so many of us are shunning the gym in favour of home.
But now a mother-of-four has issued a warning to fellow parents after a serious accident involving her 16-month-old toddler. Despite her years of experience as a mum, she revealed she never even considered the dangers of her treadmill - until her youngest suffered third-degree burns.
She explained: "We have a treadmill in our basement. I use it, but lately my oldest son (almost 10) has started using it in the mornings to run before school. Two and half weeks ago, my son was running and I was helping my daughter (age 5) brush her hair before school. My toddler (16 months), followed his brother downstairs, touched the treadmill, and got both hands caught in the spinning belt. My son immediately got off, freed his brother and brought him to me."
Writing on a parenting forum on Reddit, she continued: "We eventually got referred to the burn clinic at the children's hospital in our state, and they determined the burns to be third-degree, and he needed to have full-thickness skin grafts harvested from his thigh and applied to both hands. The recovery has been really hard on him."
People were quick to comment on the post and express their sympathy. "Oh my goodness. I am so sorry to hear about this! I hope your sweet baby heals quickly. Thank goodness your son acted so fast," one wrote. "Our family has its own treadmill trauma. My niece was running on the treadmill and lost her footing. She fell and went flying off. Unfortunately, her hair got caught in the belt and she lost many chunks right out of her scalp. It was very scary and a wake up call."
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A second shared: "This happened to me at 2yo! It only took a few busy moments for my mother to miss the fact I had wandered into the basement where my father was running. He of course could not hear that something was wrong until I started screaming.
"Happy to say that I have no memory of the event and that I have a fair amount of scarring on my fingers but mostly full motion and no limitations. These things happen to the best of us and things will only get easier from here in the healing process."
A third said: "I have a treadmill and have a toddler that I babysit. I'm usually really careful but this just reinforced that for me. Def will be taking extra precautions!! Thanks for sharing and wishing your sweet angel a speedy recovery."
And a fourth added: "Don't beat yourself up over this. Even the best parents can't foresee everything. However, pat yourself on the back for how well you did with your oldest and be sure to tell them how awesome he is for taking care of his brother. It could have been a whole hell of a lot worse."