When a tree falls in the forest (or anywhere else), not only does it make a sound, but it crushes whatever happens to reside beneath. When a falling tree crushes a child, many people think of this as a freak accident. Yet such tragedies happen a lot more often than you might think. Every year there are a dozen or two such deaths around the nation.
Some of these tragedies occur during camping trips, when a dead or compromised tree, commonly referred to as a ‘widow maker,’ falls on a tent during a storm. Other times children are killed by a tree inside their own home, often while sleeping in their bed. Trees are heavy, and a large tree can easily cut through the roof of a house. They are felled by high winds or heavy snow. Here’s a look at some of the stories behind the statistics:
One storm, two deaths
In early January 2022, a winter storm that swept through the southeast resulted in two child deaths from falling trees. A 5-year-old boy in Georgia died after heavy rain and winds caused a tree to fall on his home, and in Townsend, Tennessee, a 7-year-old girl was killed after heavy snow caused a tree branch to snap and fall on her home.
For more information on how to protect your kids from this safety hazard, check out the following resources:
See also…
- Amusement Park Accidents
- Kids Killed By Falling Objects
- Kids Killed by Falling Trees
- Toy Chest Accidents