Baby Dies After Falling Out of Grocery Cart

[Robinrs]

Yikes! Shouldn't a 3 month old baby be in a carseat of some kind?

Baby Dies After Falling Out of Grocery Cart
Michelle Quesada


Story Updated: Sep 21, 2011 at 6:49 PM EDT

A three month old baby dies from head injuries after falling out of a Kroger grocery buggy Tuesday morning, according to Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones.

Jones says baby James Berg was rushed to Coliseum Northside Hospital and then rushed to the Medical Center of Central Georgia.

The incident occurred at the Kroger on Forysth Road in Macon.

Macon Police say a Kroger employee was pushing the grocery cart out to the car when apparently the cart hit a bump and the baby fell out.

Kroger has since released a statement regarding the accident:

“Our deepest sympathy and most sincere, heartfelt thoughts go to the family during this time, and Kroger is fully cooperating with the local investigation,” according to Glynn Jenkins, director of communications for Kroger’s Atlanta Division, which includes the Macon area.

 

[deegack]

It doesn't give much info. I wonder if the bucket seat was in the front of the cart and the whole thing fell out.

 

[wendy46001]

It doesn't give much info. I wonder if the bucket seat was in the front of the cart and the whole thing fell out.

This is what happened. An employee was pushing the cart over a speed bump in the parking lot and the car seat was placed on the front. Poor Baby

 

[LuvsDragonflies]

How sad.

 

[Robinrs]

This is what happened. An employee was pushing the cart over a speed bump in the parking lot and the car seat was placed on the front. Poor Baby

I didn't realize that... how horrible.

 

[4nana]

What an absolutely heartbreaking tragedy.

So very sad. Sending prayers for all involved, Lord, I can't begin to imagine their shock and grief.


A 3-month-old child died Tuesday, hours after he fell from a grocery cart outside the Kroger store on Forsyth Road.

James Anderson Berg had been with his mother, who was shopping at the store. On the way to the car, the baby fell from the grocery cart and sustained a head injury about 11:15 a.m., said Bibb County Coroner Leon Jones.

“It was a terrible accident,” Jones said.

The baby had been sitting in a car seat. That seat was unclipped from its vehicle base and placed in the area of the cart near the handlebar where an older child would typically sit, said Macon police Detective Pamela Williams.

There’s no way to secure the car seat in that location, she said.

The car seat and the child rolled out of the cart as a Kroger employee pushed the cart over a speed bump, she said.

The infant was rushed to Coliseum Northside Hospital and later to The Medical Center of Central Georgia. He was pronounced dead in the pediatric intensive care unit about 4:15 p.m.

A doctor ruled that the death was an accident, Williams said.

Glynn Jenkins, director of communications for Kroger’s Atlanta division, issued an e-mailed statement after the incident.

“Our deepest sympathy and most sincere, heartfelt thoughts go to the family during this time, and Kroger is fully cooperating with the local investigation,” the statement said.

Asked whether the store chain has a policy regarding employees’ pushing carts to customers’ cars, spokesman Timm Thomas said “we can’t comment on that right now.”

Check back at Macon.com and read Thursday’s Telegraph for more on this story.

 

[bgirldeb]

How terrible!

I feel sorry for the guy pushing the cart. Accidents happen. It's going to be one of those "if only I would have" incidents for every one involved. It appears the employee was a friend of the mother.

The comments in this article also indicate the child was strapped in the child carrier.

http://www.macon.com/2011/09/22/1713527/infant-dies-after-falling-from.html

eta: looks like this is the article 4nana quoted.

 

[happygirl]

I feel for that poor family, I also feel for cart pusher. I have never had my groceries taken out, Is it common for people to leave the baby in the cart while a stranger push the cart.

 

[Mrs.Malone]

This absolutely could have happened to me. I remember shopping with my first baby just like that when he was very little, until I realized how dangerous it was and I didn't do it anymore. It seemed like the carrier clipped securely onto the buggy but it really didn't.

 

[Colleen27]

Yikes! Shouldn't a 3 month old baby be in a carseat of some kind?

Yeah, but those "baby bucket" carseats that seem like they clip onto the cart really aren't terribly secure and can easily be knocked loose. DH always thought I was a little paranoid for putting our kids in the big part of the basket in their carrier-carseat when they were infants until one day he had DD3, then about 6-7mo, in her carrier on the seat part of the basket and she kicked hard enough *in her sleep* to shift the whole carrier to a lopsided position. From then on she went into the big part of the cart any time she was in her carseat at the store.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Tragic--I wonder if having the handle up would have helped. For this baby, I either put the car seat in the buggy part or kept it attached to the stroller while "towed" the cart with my other hand. And not that I would think an employee would harm my baby--I would either push the cart myself (they can walk beside me and help me unload at the car) or take the baby out.

This isn't to put mom in a bad light. It is just what I did for my comfort level.

 

[DWGal210]

My God how horrible.

 

[AKL_Megs]

Tragic--I wonder if having the handle up would have helped. For this baby, I either put the car seat in the buggy part or kept it attached to the stroller while "towed" the cart with my other hand. And not that I would think an employee would harm my baby--I would either push the cart myself (they can walk beside me and help me unload at the car) or take the baby out.

This isn't to put mom in a bad light. It is just what I did for my comfort level.

Yes, me too. The employee would be pushing my GROCERIES, if I was in need of assistance. I guess the employee was a friend, so he/she was probably pushing the baby to "visit" with the infant. Sad.

 

[Kellydelly]

Was the baby not properly strapped in the carseat? How could a baby have head injuries unless he actually fell out of the carseat when it fell from the cart?

 

[dfchelbay]

Although it doesn't say anything about another child, I wonder if the employee was pushing the cart while mom had another little one in her hands, either carrying or by the hand. It would seem that would be why an employee would push the cart for her.

 

[tlbwriter]

I have never had my groceries taken out, Is it common for people to leave the baby in the cart while a stranger push the cart.

No, I don't think so. In my area, the grocery stores that take your bags to your car don't use the same grocery cart we use for shopping; they use a more vertical cart that would not have any place for a carseat.

 

[Tinkermommy]

I feel for that poor family, I also feel for cart pusher. I have never had my groceries taken out, Is it common for people to leave the baby in the cart while a stranger push the cart.

I shop at Publix (I love Publix) and they push the cart out for you and load your groceries. This is part of their "service." If my son is in the seat, he gets pushed by the employee. They usually are very friendly and strike up conversations with him. We go there a lot and know most of the employees.

I agree with some of the other posters. I was never comfortable putting the bucket car seat in the little seat area. I always put it in the main cart area. It took up a lot of room, but you just put stuff underneath the cart or in the seat.

This was a tragic accident. I feel for everyone involved!

 

[mhsjax]

Was the baby not properly strapped in the carseat? How could a baby have head injuries unless he actually fell out of the carseat when it fell from the cart?

The car seat fell out, and landed on top of the baby, I know this could happen because my DD at 3 months was kicking and toppled her car seat right out of a chair, it was going down with her on the bottom, my DH literally caught her i mid fall.

 

[Hannathy]

Was the baby not properly strapped in the carseat? How could a baby have head injuries unless he actually fell out of the carseat when it fell from the cart?

Because a carseat is designed for a car crash not to protect from falling. Of course he could get hurt or killed falling in a car seat, it probably flipped over resulting in it's head hitting the concrete, or fell straight down landing vertically not on the horizontal so that the baby's head snapped forward and it broke it's neck or severed it's spinal cord.

also why babies can still die or get seriously hurt in car crashes.

How sad for everyone, including Kroger because you know it is going to be a big bucks lawsuit over a freak accident that happened with the parent present and with good intentions.

 

[myheartlivesatwdw]

sad yet I am confused....Why is the employee pushing your child and the child wasn't strapped into the seat itself?