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Another Toddler Seriously Injured By Falling Television In Chicago

First Posted: 02/ 9/2012 12:24 pm Updated: 02/ 9/2012 12:24 pm

A 2-year-old girl was badly hurt Wednesday night after a 29-inch television and a dresser fell onto her on the city's South Side, marking the fifth such instance in recent months in the Chicago area.

According to the Chicago Tribune, the toddler was trying to climb a dresser when the TV that was on top of it fell onto her around 8:30 p.m. at a home on the 1300 block of West 76th Street.

The child's mother said she heard a crash from the bedroom and found her daughter trapped under the TV, according to ABC Chicago.

The toddler was taken to Comer Children's Hospital at the University of Chicago where she was initially listed in critical condition but has since been upgraded to serious, the Tribune reports.

As Fox Chicago reports, four other children have been injured or killed by falling TVs in the area since October. Earlier this week, Shaun Brown, a 1-year-old boy, was killed when a 100-pound, older model television fell on top of him in the city's Roseland neighborhood.

In January, Gianna Hadjis, 4, was killed in University Park by a falling television. Last fall, Shaniya Singleton, 3, of Chiago, and Karl Clermont, 6, of Arlington Heights, were also killed in similar incidents.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has urged parents to secure their televisions by anchoring them to a wall with tip-resistant safety brackets. It is estimated that, each year, 16,000 U.S. children are hospitalized due to a television or piece of furniture falling onto them.

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A 2-year-old girl was badly hurt Wednesday night after a 29-inch television and a dresser fell onto her on the city's South Side, marking the fifth such instance in recent months in the Chicago area. ...
A 2-year-old girl was badly hurt Wednesday night after a 29-inch television and a dresser fell onto her on the city's South Side, marking the fifth such instance in recent months in the Chicago area. ...
Filed by Joseph Erbentraut  | 
 
 
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11:40 AM on 02/11/2012
1rst world problems
HUFFPOST SUPER USER
robert horwitz
09:38 AM on 02/11/2012
Was the TV OK?
05:34 PM on 02/10/2012
MESSAGE TO ALL PARENTS, WHY NOT KEEP AN EYE ON YOUR KIDS, ITS CALLED PARENTING,QUIT TRYING TO PLACE THE BLAME ON EVERYTHING BUT WHERE IT SHOULD BE.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
92102
Friends Don't Let Friends Watch FOX News
04:04 AM on 02/12/2012
Sometimes a parent needs to leave the room. Is that ok by you?
11:31 AM on 02/12/2012
its still called parenting its your responsibility as a parent to make sure your kids are safe and not in harms way ,theres also things called playpens that you can put the kid in if you have to leave the room.
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Mister Grumpy
An Angry American
11:01 AM on 02/10/2012
Okay Rahm, it appears a registry for people owning televisions sitting above the ground is necessary.
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acarioti
Al Carioti is a Real Estate Broker in Orlando, Flo
10:26 AM on 02/10/2012
TV is just plain bad for kids!
09:41 AM on 02/10/2012
Bush dropped it on the baby.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GaryNOVA
Fear My Micro-bio!!!!!!!!
04:43 AM on 02/10/2012
This is crazy. could you imagine minding your own business and then all of the sudden mid sentence hav
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special38x2
Live, Love, & Laugh
11:21 PM on 02/09/2012
OMG...I think these tvs are out to kill us...another attempt to get us off our behinds...
09:42 PM on 02/09/2012
Why is this in the category of "weird" news?? This is far from weird...this is very serious.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
GaryNOVA
Fear My Micro-bio!!!!!!!!
04:43 AM on 02/10/2012
*serious face* :|
07:08 AM on 02/10/2012
"immature" :)
06:33 PM on 02/09/2012
I really hope the government doesn't soon pass a new law requiring all TV "stands", whether intended for that purpose or not, to be anchored to the walls. Before you laugh, the government did just this with all stove/ovens. It is now a law that they be fitted with anti-tip devices? Why? Because children were pulling open the door of the oven and standing on it, causing it to tip over.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
sadwitness
Haters have no effect on me. I'm idiot proof.
04:01 AM on 02/10/2012
and you object to this 2 minute inexpensive precaution?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Adam Dray
There's a snake in my boot!
05:31 PM on 02/09/2012
I love how people seem to be....physics denied these days. A DRESSER is NOT a tv stand!! AND IF YOU MUST use one for such a purpose AT LEAST pull the head from your rear, and realize there's a thing called center of gravity, and balance. A DRESSER has unstable weight center which is often HIGHER than lower. Adding a TV on top of that (especially a old school tube one) is going to throw the balance completely off! It's hwy ALOT of dressers especially nowadays have a little band that comes from the back that you mount to a wall to PREVENT JUST THIS!! Wake up people, and the parents/owners I think it's time for a harsh lesson in common sense!!! If the kid dies, I say minimal 20 yrs in prison...sure it wasn't intentional but if this accident happened and a 'professional' was responsible people would be demanding their head!!
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
sadwitness
Haters have no effect on me. I'm idiot proof.
04:04 AM on 02/10/2012
I have never seen such a rush to blame victims and incarcerate people who are not criminals...simply mind boggling. You are actually proposing locking up a bereaved parent because a child dies by a tragic accident. Only in Amerikuh
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Adam Dray
There's a snake in my boot!
05:45 PM on 02/10/2012
A. It's AMERICA with a C, you're lame attempt at some form of slander, has failed. Secondly so lets, just let these ilresponsible people go about their daily life continuing to put others at harms way because they don't bother to check anything. AND YES that is a logical assumption cause personally and I don't know if you've had a kid or not, but, wouldn't you check, and double and triple check EVERYTHING if you had toddler roaming about? SO if these people are so eager to be negligent with their own kid...how do you think they treat other people? What would you want if say they were babysitting your child and that happened to YOUR kid...would you feel 'OH they been through so much they shouldn't be punished'...or would you want them punished? Personally NO ACCIDENT is unpreventable, it's the ignorance of those involved that let it happen in the first place. There is no excuse for ignorance that results in human casualty.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
92102
Friends Don't Let Friends Watch FOX News
04:06 AM on 02/12/2012
While you are busy sending everyone to long prison sentences, are you also willing to have your taxes go way up to pay for it?
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Adam Dray
There's a snake in my boot!
05:20 PM on 02/12/2012
OOh my bad..ha in that case just..don't put anyone in prison...or just execute them right....hmm whining without offering a solution..is that all you're good at?
04:56 PM on 02/09/2012
Put the TV above the fireplace, duh!
04:19 PM on 02/09/2012
Poor kiddo.
03:59 PM on 02/09/2012
This is just a tragic story and my heart goes out to the victims families. I have 3 kids and I would be heart broken if this happened. I do have a hard time believing that a 1 yr old can pull over a 100 lb tv though. Even if it is on a dresser? Just seems a little odd, but maybe I'm clueless
06:31 PM on 02/09/2012
Thinking maybe if the dresser surface was even just somewhat slippery, the weight of the kid using it to hoist herself up might have been enough to pull it close to the edge and off balance so both she and the TV fell, the TV on top of her. It's hard to imagine, but freaky things do happen.
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FaceTheTruth00
I'm a girl.
05:58 AM on 02/11/2012
I would think it was more likely an upright chest of drawers and they're just using the term "dresser".

I recently bought and put together an inexpensive chest of drawers and if you take out the drawers, the whole structure is extremely wobbly.

Now I bought it for a spare room, for storage of extra clothes, and have no kids. It does have a tv on top; albeit a 19'' flat screen which isn't going to crush much of anyone.

But, point being, it's a cheaply made and somewhat unsteady structure. If a child was to pull some drawers out and climb up it, I can see how he/she would be able to tip it over.

I have to say though that it did come with a strap to nail/anchor the dresser to the wall, although I have no need or reason to. But, I can see someone buying such a cheap dresser and having it around kids. It would be dangerous.
03:51 PM on 02/09/2012
These are tragic events, I have 3 kids and my heart goes out to the families. But I'm curious as to how a 1 year old can pull a 100 lb tv or dresser over? Even if it isn't anchored at all, that would be very difficult to do. Just seems a little odd imo...