TX - Mark Portillo, 4, dies in trampoline accident, 10 July 2007

[Paladin]

Was there a crime involved here? Just scratching my head why it's in the crimes section.

What would people have said if the child was supervised and still killed himself anyway? I don't think supervision was the problem here.

 

[Nova]

Was there a crime involved here? Just scratching my head why it's in the crimes section.

What would people have said if the child was supervised and still killed himself anyway? I don't think supervision was the problem here.

I wondered the same thing.

Even though I think 4 is too young for trampolines (they have those "bouncy house" things for a reason: they are more appropriate for small children), I realize that reasonable people can disagree.

My heart goes out to the parents of the child and I'm not blaming the mother.

 

[real eyes]

This poor mom like so many of you say. Will have to live the rest of her life with this. But I disagree with those that say the 4 year-old had no business on it.That is like saying they should not be allowed to go in a pool.Sometimes I think now days we protect our kids to much. Heck when I was growing up. I used to jump off the roof and land on a matress.And after I learned to ride a bike I was going down hills as fast as I could. And that was in the days of no helmets or pads.
It was a mistake I agree. But how many times have we heard of a child wandering out of the house into a back yard pool.

I totally agree with this....it is tragic, of course, but we can't shelter our children from playing. Pools, bikes, rollerskates/blades, jungle gyms and many, many play things can seriously hurt a child, but it would be such a shame to not allow them to use any of these just because they may get hurt.

 

[Paladin]

My heart goes out to the parents of the child and I'm not blaming the mother.

Me neither. I don't care what anyone says; I truly believe it's impossible impossible to keep an eye on your child every waking moment. Unfortunately, all it takes is a few seconds for something to happen.

I'm just curious as to whether the child broke their neck, hit their head, or died of asphyxiation.

 

[Nova]

Me neither. I don't care what anyone says; I truly believe it's impossible impossible to keep an eye on your child every waking moment. Unfortunately, all it takes is a few seconds for something to happen.

I'm just curious as to whether the child broke their neck, hit their head, or died of asphyxiation.

That was your post #1,000. I think I'm supposed to congratulate you for being gabby or something.

You and others are right that there is no perfect safety for any child. Good parents do the best they can to protect their children, but every decision they make is a calculated risk.

 

[Anngelique]

Okay, time to get flamed.

We have a trampoline and have for over 10 years. We've only had one accident on it and it was because my son who was about 16 at the time was having people make him go higher and doing flips. He broke his hand and had to have surgery to have a pin put in.

However, with this 10 years of the trampoline I run a daycare and every child here LOVES the trampoline and it's great exercise. They are completely supervised and there is only jumping allowed. No flips, no twists, nothing. We don't have the fence or cage around it because I heard many kids get a false sense of security from that. So the kids are taught how to use it safely and I watch them the entire time and tell them when they're being too dangerous and they are off for a certain amount of time. But they start going on it around 2 or 3 depending on the child. Of course those kids barely jump but they still love it.

Everything can be dangerous... skateboards, scooters, bikes, roller skates, etc. Supervision is the key and that child should never have been left alone for even 10 mins. She should have made him get down until she was watching once again. That's what I do.

We can't put our kids in a plastic bubble but common sense and supervision is the key to safety with children. So one accident in 10 years of my trampoline with 4 of my own children and up to 10 daycare children daily is a great record in my opinion!

 

[SewingDeb]

You are so right Anngelique!

 

[Nova]

Okay, time to get flamed.

No, flame from me, Anngelique.

You describe a closely supervised, carefully structured sport activity in which children are trained from a young age. Yes, there is still risk, just as there is in gymnastics or soccer or performing in a Christmas pageant, but as you and others have said, we have to let children move.

The accidents I've heard of (including those in my own family) came from unstructured, "let's all just jump on the trampoline" events. Even if adults were present, they weren't doing any training and hadn't thought carefully about the risks to small children.

There's a big difference in my mind, but a difference I hadn't thought about until I read your post. My bad.

 

[eleven]

A few moments my a$$.

I love how parents always try to minimize just how long it was they left their children unsupervised.
Like the women who went grocery shopping and left the baby in the car claimed she was "only" gone for 20 minutes when it was more like an hour!

Actually, it takes LESS than a few moments for something like this to happen. The mother said she was only inside for a few minutes, and LE is quoted in the article as saying that do believe she truly was inside for only a few moments.

There's nothing at all indicating that this mother was lying about how long she was inside.

 

[Anngelique]

No, flame from me, Anngelique.

You describe a closely supervised, carefully structured sport activity in which children are trained from a young age. Yes, there is still risk, just as there is in gymnastics or soccer or performing in a Christmas pageant, but as you and others have said, we have to let children move.

The accidents I've heard of (including those in my own family) came from unstructured, "let's all just jump on the trampoline" events. Even if adults were present, they weren't doing any training and hadn't thought carefully about the risks to small children.

There's a big difference in my mind, but a difference I hadn't thought about until I read your post. My bad.

Thanks Nova! One of my daycare moms got on the trampoline with her son and I was so mad! She almost flipped him off. I let her have it. I told her it was not safe for people of different body weight to be on the tramp at the same time. I do let a couple kids on at the same time but they have to be the near the same weight so someone doesn't bounce off and like I said, I'm watching the entire time. But seriously, this mother had her back to her 3 year old son and he went flying... it was very close. I always say the kids are much safer with me than their own parents. Kids never get hurt at my house where as they always come to me with cuts, stitches, etc. One of the 6 year olds was telling me his mother let him cut the watermelon. I said did you get cut? Sure enough he did. Thank goodness it was a small one though.

 

[JBean]

I think all kids love them. The safest way I've seen is for them to be dug in the ground - still need adult supervison for young kids. This poor mother will propbably be guilt ridden for years.

We dug a hole and dropped our tramp in it. They still got hurt. I hated every minute of that tramp and I am so glad it is a thing of the past.
As far as supervising, I stood and watched....watched my kids get hurt lol.
This is a very sad case and I feel bad for all involved.

 

[Beyond Belief]

I feel just terrible for this families loss.
We have had tramps twice. Everyone played, everyone had fun. No one got hurt. My daughter and I were trained at her gymnastic classes. Only used when enough spotters were available. Never used as a babysitter.

 

[Bobbisangel]

This makes me so sad. God Bless that little boy.

Trampolines have always scared me and I will never buy one for my daughter. My neighbors have the kind with the fence around it and I'm dreading the day my daughter notices it and wants to go play on it. I think I would let her on it ONLY if I were right there supervising.

With a trampoline I don't think it would matter if you were supervising your child. They jump and end up hitting that metal rim all around it and they are injured whether you are watching them or not. They scare me to death. If your child is injured on a neighbors trampoline you can sue the pants off of the neighbor even if you wrote a note giving your child permission to jump on it. There is a law suit going on in my town right now.

 

[dingo]

It was the cord attached to the trampoline that killed the poor little mite...not the trampoline itself.........this kind of accident could have just as easily happened on a top bunk.

 

[Amraann]

Actually, it takes LESS than a few moments for something like this to happen. The mother said she was only inside for a few minutes, and LE is quoted in the article as saying that do believe she truly was inside for only a few moments.

There's nothing at all indicating that this mother was lying about how long she was inside.

I am not saying she was gone for an hour but a few moments??
please!

Bottom line is she should not have left a 4 yo alone outside AT ALL.


Anngelique,
I would not flame you...
As a matter of fact today my hubby is applying for a promotion at work and it come with a nice raise so my 11 YO said "If dad gets the promotion, I can get a trampoline!!!

I was like "I don't know about that!"
I would only buy it with the "cage"
I know the hazard of trampoline's but I agree supervision is key and only 1 at a time

 

[GlitchWizard]

I have one with a barrier around it that came with it. I wouldn't own one without it, because I grew up with one and I know things can happen in an instant.

Things can happen in the most normal of situations, too.

I think more kids have health and obesity problems leading to dying at an early age from NOT EXERCISING than would die from barrier protected trampolines.

 

[goddess]

I love the trampoline for exercise.

 

[southcitymom]

What a sad sad story! And it hits home a bit because I started a thread asking for opinions on tramps a few months ago.

We ended up getting one and my 4 and 6 year old sons (and us) have enjoyed it very much. I do allow my kids on it together thus far, with supervision. I also allow them out in our backyard alone with the dog - but I can see them from every window in the back of the house.

The real curiosity here is the rope. I wonder if the the 4-year-old constructed it - tied it onto the trampoline or something. We have to really watch that at our house. My kids love tying ropes into booby traps and once tied a rope across the their playscape at neck level to the slide entrance!:doh: Boys....

My prayers for this family.