A mother has urged parents to be aware of the dangers of blind cords, and to take appropriate safety precautions, following a terrifying incident involving her toddler daughter.
Mum-of-five Lisa McKernan has recalled the moment when her two-year-old, Ellen, sustained injuries after getting caught up in a blind cord in their home.
The Belfast native told the BBC that she was in the bath when she was alerted to the accident, after hearing a loud bang. She had thought that Ellen was in bed asleep at the time.
Ellen had gotten stuck in the blind cord, and while she had managed to free herself, she had ended up falling to the ground and hitting her head.
“I got straight out of the bath and ran into the bedroom, and I saw her neck and the redness of it – the cord of the blind was swinging,” Lisa said.
“Her head was dripping with blood. It was a small puncture, but quite deep. It bled for a while.”
Aside from her head wound, little Ellen was also left with neck injuries. Thankfully, the tot is fine and recovering well, but Lisa is not in the better of the incident.
She is now urging parents everywhere to invest in safety equipment for their household blinds, and to take every appropriate safety precaution possible.
“We didn’t have it [safety equipment] at the time. We cut off every cord from all the blinds that night, so there was no way the children could get access,” Lisa added.
This is just the latest in a series of tragic stories involving children, many of whom have lost their lives in accidents in the home.
Previously, Northern Ireland’s coroner, Joseph McCrisken, described blind cords as ‘silent killers’ and highlighted the need for vigilance.
“I, as Coroner for Northern Ireland, urge and plead with each and every parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, child-minder, landlord or carer of children to double-check each and every blind in your home,” he said, speaking at a court hearing.
“I don’t want to hear another inquest into the death of a child as a result of strangulation from a blind cord.”
