A schoolgirl named Marley was playing on the playground with her friend when something terrible happened. As the child went down the slide, she emerged several seconds later in severe pain and with a strange line across her neck.
When her Mom heard what happened, she was left absolutely disturbed. Now, she’s warning others about the cause of the incident. It emerged that Marley had been wearing a bucket hat as she went down the slide when the chord got stuck.
Although it had a quick release safety clip, when the chord got stuck on a crack in the slide, the safety clip failed to release. This left Marley hanging by her neck. Luckily, her friend Madison was able to get close enough to her and manually released the safety clip, saving the young girl’s life.
When Marley’s Mother, Gail Oster, heard about what happened, she was horrified. “The bell was about to go [when the accident happened]. If Madison wasn’t there, all the children would have been inside and Marley would have been left there. The slide faces the carpark at the back of the school so no one would have found her,” she explained.
“It resulted in a really bad neck injury. The doctor told me another 45 seconds and her windpipe would have collapsed.”
Gail is now warning other parents of the hidden danger in the hats. She wants parents to check and ensure that their child’s “safety clips” are working properly.
“Please, all parents, either check your child’s hat that the clip releases under pressure or cut the cord completely off the hat,” she begged on Facebook.
If your child or if you know of a child who wears these bucket hats with a safety cord, please ensure they are working properly.