Scary Swingset Incident

[KarenC]

We had a scary situation tonight while celebrating the Memorial Day holiday with my family. Thankfully everything is fine.

We have one of those big wood playsets in our backyard. Our kids are too old to play on it (ya think--they're 18 and 16) but we haven't gotten around to taking it down. It has a ladder, monkey bars, firemans pole and a climbing rope.

All day my 8 year old niece was doing crazy things with the rope. We were looking out into the backyard from our family room--I kept sending my brother (her dad) out to watch her. She was making me so nervous.

So I look out and she has the rope wrapped around her neck and she's getting ready to jump off the platform! I start screaming. Fortunately her mom and dad got out there before she did any harm.

In 10 years I've never seen a kid try that but I guess will be getting rid of the playset in a hurry. I wanted to share in case anyone else has a rope on their playset and a child who is a daredevil like my niece!

 

[RitaZ.]

Wow! The things some kids will think of!!!!!!

Thank goodness she didn't get hurt.

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

Our neighbor's kids are 8 and 12 and they have been caught tying a jump rope aroung their neck, attaching it to the garage door (while it is up) and riding their bikes outside. I am not sure why they did this, but luckily I was trimming our bushes and yelled to their mom, who was planting near her front porch, what they were up to. Kids do some scary things.

 

[*Flower*]

Thank goodness she was caught in time!!!

My Mom had a swing set in our back yard, and the metal started rusting in the middle of the cross member.

I was about 10, and swung a bit too high and hard- it gave out and tossed me on my (insert body part here) and broke totally in half!!!

My Mom got it taken out of the yard that day.......

 

[goofy4tink]

OMG!!!! Is your heart back where it should be now??? What goes on in those little heads. Sorry you guys had that happen. But thanks for the head's up. Oops, maybe not a good choice of words.

 

[curlyjbs]

My friends 11 yr old son once tried to do a houdini -

He had his sister duct tape his hands and feet and roll him into the pool!! Thank god my friend got there in time!!!


you NEVER know what kids will try!!!

curly

 

[KarenC]

Originally posted by remyandhollandsmommy
Our neighbor's kids are 8 and 12 and they have been caught tying a jump rope aroung their neck, attaching it to the garage door (while it is up) and riding their bikes outside.

That reminds me of my son's brainless moment. He and his friend opened the garage door with the electric opener and they grabbed on to the door while it was going up. They pulled the garage door off the track. This doesn't sound so bad, but our garage is HUGE (the people who used to own the house call it garagezilla). The door is 10 feet tall and wide enough for 3 cars. So if the whole thing had fallen off the track, and onto them, they would have been toast.

I think my niece's escapade really got to me today because on Tuesday an 11 year old boy was hit and killed by a train just 2 blocks from my house. He was on his bike, the gates were down, and he went around them. The front of the train caught the back of his bike and pulled him under. So I've had a real reminder of how kids' bad decisions can have tragic consequences.

 

[KimRaye]

Originally posted by KarenC
on Tuesday an 11 year old boy was hit and killed by a train just 2 blocks from my house. He was on his bike, the gates were down, and he went around them. The front of the train caught the back of his bike and pulled him under. So I've had a real reminder of how kids' bad decisions can have tragic consequences.

I know exactly which story you're talking about and, I'm soo thankful your niece was NOT tonight's news.

 

[Alice28]

OMG- that is SCARY. I'm so glad she was stopped!

My scary swing set story---4 summer ago we went to Seaside beach here in Oregon. There are swing sets on the beach. My son hopped on one swing (he was close to 3 at the time) and I hopped on another and DH watched. I used to swing all the time with my daycare kids at the school I worked at so I thought nothing of it (being a full grown adult in a swing). I got as high as you can get and then next thing I know I am flying and landed on my shoulder. Knocked the wind out of me, got a mouth full of sand and I thought I had broken my shoulder and my ankle---the FREAKING chain broke on the swing set! People saw what happened and shouted out and some offered to call an ambulance. I was so humiliated and confused I insisted no, but I couldn't get up...so the ambulance was called.

Word to the wise----inspect swing sets for rust! My husband took pictures of everything and the bolt that the chain linked into at the top of the swing was totally rusted. Thank God I wasn't more seriously hurt, or anyone else for that matter.

 

[Pooh_Friend#1]

My DBIL and I were having a swinging contest at one of the elementary schools and he was swinging very high when the rusted chain broke. He claims he was hurt (mostly his ego) but his pinky is completely bent now because of that incident. It brought me to tears laughing then and now to reminisce (sp). So beware of the swings. Luckily he didn't get hurt badly, things could have gotten a lot worse!!

 

[Beth E. (NJ)]

When I was probably 10 or 11 I was swinging on our backyard swingset with my younger sister. The next think I knew I was on the ground in pain. One of the chains that held the swing broke and the chain whipped across my thigh. Luckily it didn't break skin -- but it hurt like the dickins.

 

[dizneenut]

How scary! So glad that she was stopped.

 

[TINKTWINS]

That sent shivers!

 

[HollyJoy]

Oh my gosh! Good thing you looked out at the right time! How scarey!

 

[my3kids]

...and my husband wonders why the rope on ours has to be anchored to the ground at the bottom. I think I'm just going to remove it today. That made me ill to read. I have a daredevil also.

 

[tkd lisa]

A friend of a family at our church lost a child about 1 month ago in a similar incident. This boy was in his tree house, grabbed the rope to jump out and somehow got it around his neck. In the amount of time it took his mom to get out to him, and get him untangled he died. It's a terrible tragedy.

 

[Microcell]

Taking out my rope too! My DS got kicked by a 55 lb girl who was swinging full force at 1 and 1/2 when I was trying out for bad mother of the year and took my eyes off him and he walked in her path- he flew 3 feet! No injuries though.