Mum's warning after little girl's 'brutal' injury at local playground
The injury is not the first of its kind at the playground and parents are calling for better protection at council parks.
Pictures of a young child with a blistery, burnt foot has sparked a serious warning from a concerned mum who revealed it was the local playground where the little girl suffered the injury.
The toddler had been playing at The Mill water park and play space in Brisbane on an ordinary afternoon when she burned her bare foot while standing on a part of the dry playground — a round, black "plastic spinner".
"She was only standing on it for seconds before I got to her but it has blistered her foot pretty badly," her mother shared with the community online. "I never expected something like this would be open to kids to access but f*** me, it was hot. Just a side note for other parents that have little children, I don't want you to feel the guilt or hear that cry of pain like I did this afternoon, it broke my little heart."
Parents share similar concerns over lack of shade at park
Seeing the warning, hundreds responded to send their best wishes to the injured toddler while also condemning the park's lack of shade.
"Similar happened to my 2 year old standing on the step for the small play piece (right beside that)," one claimed. "The shade sail isn’t big enough to fully cover it. She wasn’t in shoes because we’d also been in the water area."
"That’s scary considering 80% of kids have no shoes on after playing in the swimming part. Wasn’t the hottest day either so I’d hate to see how hot it is in the middle of summer," another added.
"I feel like this is an issue with a few playgrounds in the City of Moreton Bay," a third said.
Yahoo News Australia has tried to reach out to City of Moreton Bay Council on several occasions, but have not yet received a response.
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Playgrounds across country 'dangerous' for children
A frightening, similar incident happened in Port Macquarie, NSW this year, when a young girl was running around on the grass "like all the other kids" near a water park before suddenly tripping on the elevated edge of the metal plate, sending her toppling forward onto it.
Though she was on the metal for mere seconds, the toddler suffered significant burns to her hands, feet and legs.
Nic Seton, CEO of Parents for Climate, has also been calling for better shade and heat protection at children's playgrounds after revealing just how hot playgrounds can get.
In January, he went to his local playground in Sydney when the maximum temperature for the day was about 33 degrees and, using his surface thermometer reader, found the surface temperature of some of the play equipment was so hot it could cause "severe burns within seconds".
The slide, sitting directly in the sun due to "missing shade cloths", was a whopping 70 degrees — 20 degrees higher than the 50-degree advised maximum, according to Kidsafe NSW.
Seton told Yahoo News Australia rising temperatures and lack of adequate basic protection at parks means many environments, such as playgrounds, can be unsafe for children. "We're seeing this kind of acceptance that our environment is just hot, but these environments can be dangerous," he said.
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