One-year-old crushed by nightstand and TV set

A child aged one year and two months was crushed to death by a nightstand and a TV set. Nadejda Balanetski, senior mother and child assistance specialist of Stefan Voda district, where the tragedy happened, has told Info-Prim Neo that the girl died before her mother’s eyes. The woman was only several steps away from the child. The girl climbed the edge of the nightstand, where there was the TV set. As it wasn’t fixed firmly, the nightstand overturned and fell onto the child. The girl died on the spot. “If the TV set had been put on a stable nightstand, not a stand with wheels, the tragedy would have been avoided. The parents put their children in dangerous situations when they do not take measures to prevent accidents. In such cases, the child can remain paralyzed or disabled for life,” said Nadejda Balanetski. According to her, in order to protect the children from injuries, the places where they stay should be secured. The parents should check all the pieces of furniture in the house, including the tables, the cabinet and even the fringe, so that they are fixed firmly, and should block the child’s access to stairs inside the house so as to avoid falls. The parents should provide bunk beds only for the elder children and make sure that the small kids do not climb them. The specialist recommends the parents to ban the children from going up trees, fences or high buildings. “The parents should take all these measures so as to protect the life and health of the child,” stated Nadejda Balanetski. According to a study carried our within the REPEMOL project “Regionalization of the Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care Services in Moldova”, 66% of the parents realize the risks to which their children are exposed in the home. As many as 62 children younger than five died in 2011 as a result of injuries, while over 2,000 children were hospitalized in critical conditions.