The Consumer Product Safety Commission and Target are recalling about 350,000 woven storage trunks after a toddler sustained a traumatic brain injury when the trunk lid fell on the back of her neck, pinning her throat against the trunk rim. The 18-month old’s parents have filed a products liability lawsuit against Target.
Eric and Laura Surman say that when the wicker trunk’s lid landed on their daughter’s neck, it cut off her oxygen supply. According to couple’s products liability lawyers, the little girl cannot eat without assistance, requires the use of a feeding tube, cannot see properly, cannot speak, and is unable to move her legs or arms.
The couple’s injuries to a child lawsuit claims that Target marketed the trunk as appropriate for storing toys even though the units do not meet industry standards or CPSC recommendations for toy boxes, which require a hinge or support that prevents toy box lids from accidentally shutting. Their products liability complaint contends that the trunk should have come with a failure to warn that the boxes lacked the appropriate safety mechanism, as required by a chest used for storing toys.
Consumers are urged to stop using the storage trunks and bring them back to a Target store for a replacement or a refund. 14 different models of trunks made of abaca, woven rattan, or banana life are involved in the recall. There have been two other reports of kids who were injured when their trunks lids also closed on them.
Target’s woven storage trunks are considered a strangulation hazard.
Dangers involving containers with lids used to store toys:
- According to the CPSC, at least 45 children have died because the lids of containers used to store toys fell on their necks or heads
- At least three incidents resulted in permanent TBI’s
- Child injuries and deaths have also resulted from storage boxes used to hold blankets, shoes, decorate cubes, and other items
Children risk injury when they use the chest to pull themselves up. Without the proper safety mechanism in place, this can cause the lid to fall on a child, striking the head or trapping the neck against the edge of the chest or box. If the lid falls while the child is inside the chest, he/she she may become trapped while risking suffocation.
Injured Cranberry Girl’s Parents Sue Target Over Toy Box, ThePittsburghChannel, March 8, 2010
Target Recalls Storage Trunks Due to Strangulation Hazard, CPSC, May 20, 2010
Related Web Resources:
CPSC Warns Consumers of Dangers With Toy Chest Lids, CPSC.gov
Toy Safety, National Network for Child Care
Our child injury lawyers represent families with products liability cases against manufacturers, sellers, and distributors throughout the US.