More and more homes are turning into multifunctional spaces, serving as offices and even gyms.
In recent years, there has been a huge rise in the number of people using at-home exercise machines, including parents.
Home gym equipment can help bridge the gap between lack of time and the need for physical movement, but a mother-of-four has warned fellow parents about the dark side of home gyms.
Taking to a parent forum on Reddit, the mum shared a serious accident that involved her 16-month-old toddler.
Despite her years of experience, she revealed she didn’t even consider the dangers of her treadmill.
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The mum penned: “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 five) 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.”
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Following the accident, the baby was referred to a burn clinic at the children’s hospital in their state.
The experts there concluded the toddler suffered third-degree burns and needed to have full-thickness skin grafts harvested from his thigh and applied to both hands.
“The recovery has been really hard on him,” the mum-of-four added.
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A report, published in the Journal of Hand Surgery, warned that treadmills can be “dangerous” for children because they can sustain friction burns to their hands when the moving treadmill is touched.
While most of these burns can heal with time, some children might need reconstructive surgery like the toddler.
“Because this problem is completely preventable, parents and treadmill manufacturers are encouraged to be proactive in preventing these injuries,” the authors of the report concluded.
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