You might want to put your fidget spinner down. The popular stress relief toy has recently come under fire by parents claiming it poses a choking hazard to young children, and their concerns aren’t unfounded. Recently a 10-year-old girl had to undergo “emergency surgery after choking on her fidget spinner, according to a viral Facebook post from the girl’s mother.” Fortunately, the young girl has recovered from the ordeal, but her mother, Kelly Rose Joniec, is working hard to “educate others on the potential dangers of the toys, which were originally intended as a gadget to relieve symptoms of ADHD and anxiety.”
You might want to put your fidget spinner down. The popular stress relief toy has recently come under fire by parents claiming it poses a choking hazard to young children, and their concerns aren’t unfounded. Recently a 10-year-old girl had to undergo “emergency surgery after choking on her fidget spinner, according to a viral Facebook post from the girl’s mother.” Fortunately, the young girl has recovered from the ordeal, but her mother, Kelly Rose Joniec, is working hard to “educate others on the potential dangers of the toys, which were originally intended as a gadget to relieve symptoms of ADHD and anxiety.”
So how did her daughter’s accident occur? Well, according to Joniec’s Facebook post, “she had been driving her daughter Britton when she heard an odd retching noise in the back seat.” It turns out that her daughter, Britton, “had put part of her fidget spinner in her mouth to clean it, and had swallowed the metal object.” From there, Joniec took her daughter to the nearest urgent care, where she was transported to the Texas Children’s Hospital via ambulance to determine where the spinner was lodged.
As the Facebook post explained, the “x-ray showed the spinner bushing lodged in her esophagus. The [gastroenterology] doctor was fascinated… he’d only just learned of fidget spinners that morning when he was at the mall with his son, so it was a surprise to be faced with one in a case a few hours later.” Fortunately, the object was removed and the child recovered.
But what are fidget spinners exactly? According to Wikipedia, a fidget spinner is a type of stress-relieving toy that has been advertised as a toy to help people who have trouble focusing or fidgeting (such as those with ADHD, autism, or anxiety) by acting as a release mechanism for nervous energy or stress.
According to Joniec’s post, “fidget spinners are the current craze so they are widely distributed. Kids of all ages may be getting them, but not all spinners come with age-appropriate warnings. The bushings pop out easily, so if you have young kids… keep in mind that these present a potential choking hazard.”
Schools across the country are also beginning to ban the toys. For example, Brooklyn, New York school MS 442 recently wrote a Facebook post back in April that read:
“Although seemingly harmless, these items are being taken out during class, causing a distraction to students and staff. They are also being thrown around during transition in the hallways to and from class, in the cafeteria, and at recess. They are small in size, but can seriously hurt someone.”
Sources:
A 10-year-old girl had to have the hottest toy in the US surgically removed from her throat
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