by Roger Whittaker I watched in horror as my four-year-old daughter stood up, bouncing, to exit off the slide. I shouted across the 12 feet separating us for her to stop. She could not hear me over her own laughter. She left the end of the slide and with no concept of proper falling techniques, fell to the tiny piece of fatigue matting below and struck her head. Had she just become one of Canada’s daily 452 reported head injuries?
We were attending a fundraiser carnival on Saturday, April 18, held atop the concrete surface of the big arena at Powell River Recreation Complex.
My child rose up, holding her head. Through her sadness she told me she was okay. She started to cry, hugged me and told me she fell and hurt her head. I comforted her and as my right arm held my squirming 18-month-old, my left hand checked the back of her head for damage. None apparent, but there’s the rub—head injuries are not always apparent, and it has been well studied that cumulative mild head injuries cause greater issues.
I yelled to the adult who was accepting tickets and pointed to the inadequate floor mat. She shrugged and said, “I am just the ticket taker.”
Fail buzzer sound. Wrong answer.
My child eagerly wanted to get back into the bouncer and I let her as the ticket taker kept telling me how she was not responsible for anything but the tickets.
My child appeared to be okay. I went to see who was in charge. I spoke my concern about inadequate safety measures. She agreed it is not right and told me last year’s inflatable bouncer supplied a mat but this supplier is not local and did not do so. I told her she might want to call someone to bring a mat. She refused my offer of a phone. I insisted this needed to be fixed now to prevent the possibility of others getting injured. Although she agreed, she argued with reasons why she could not do that now.
Wrong answer.
I said, “I will find someone from the city to come look and they will likely fix this.”
Magically, her own phone appeared and she told me she would get right on it.
As we left the event I noted the organizer had an adult standing at the end of the slide to prevent kids from bouncing off the last few feet, which of course is the fun and indeed the design of the amusement. A larger one-inch thick tumbling mat was now in place.
My own child said, “Don’t tell Mommy I fell and got hurt. It will hurt her feelings.”
I assured her all the feelings to be hurt had already been attended to by Daddy and it was imperative for Mommies and Daddies to share these important moments.
A school group organizing an event fails to prioritize the safety of every child participating. Fail! Organizers respond to parents’ complaints with protestations of impotence. Fail!
Roger Whittaker is a member of Powell River Brain Injury Society.
