Strollerderby : Hurt

Boy Grows a Second Skeleton

Cole Gamble — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 15:00:00 GMT

What sounds like a pretty cool X-Men ability is unfortunately a debilitating disease for 4-year-old Shane Terry. The boy was born with the genetic condition fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, or FOP. FOP causes ones muscles and connective tissue to ossify if damaged. In other words, they turn to bone.

This means outdoor play, running or any other physical activity common to young boys and girls are ripe with terrible consequences for Shane. Shane’s mom, Kimberly Hayes, must keep him indoors most of the time; one fall could cause a movement-inhibiting ossification. When a flare up does occur, it looks like a massive tumor on the small boy. In time the protrusions deflates, but the damage is done.

According to the International Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Association, FOP is one of the rarest, most disabling genetic conditions, with more than 600 confirmed cases across the globe. At present, the disease has no cure.

My wife and I went through a health scare with our own daughter. During a routine 9-month checkup, the doc did some measurements on Jillian’s body and then casually suggested that the girl might have Marfan’s syndrome. A rare condition, Marfan’s is a heart defect that spells out a short life for those afflicted with it.

As you can imagine, my wife and I were twisted into knots for the next wait as we waited to see a geneticist and get a final judgment. Upon visiting the genetic doctor, we were dismissed by her right away. “No way does this kid have Marfan’s.” She barely had to look at our child. I wanted to punch our pediatrician’s head off like a Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robot for the cavalier attitude he took in assigning a deadly disorder to our daughter.

That week we spent in limbo might be what day to day life is like for those who parent a legitimately afflicted child. We have all had health scares with our children, so we all have a sliver of an idea of what it’s like to have a heartbreaking love for a kid you can’t bear to see suffer. I’m not really going much further with this; it’s just one of those things that remind you how lucky you are to have a healthy child.

More by this author:

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The 26 Most Disturbing Kids Movies Ever

7 Classic Kid's TV Shows Clearly Conceived on (Bad) Acid

12 Pregnancy Myths

**The Sh*t List: 10 Bizarre (or Terrific?) Potty Gadgets**

Are Crocs and Kids A Dangerous Mix?

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:30:00 GMT

It was bound to happen eventually. All popular products must eventually meet their downfall in the form of consumer safety lawsuits. And so it is that the footwear company Crocs faces at least two suits for injuries involving their soft-soled slip-ons, children, and escalators.

Clark Meyer is suing the company for $2 million after his four-year-old son was injured on an Atlanta airport escalator while wearing Crocs. According to the suit, the boy’s foot was “severely and permanently” injured. And the parents of a three-year-old who broke three of her toes on an escalator while wearing Crocs are also suing the company.

The Crocs company has promised to insert safety labels into their shoes, but maintains that Crocs are no more likely to injure children on escalators than other types of footwear. Indeed, at least two children wearing flip flops were hurt on Atlanta Airport escalators this past summer, in addition to the Crocs injury.

It does seem to me that these injuries are not exclusively Crocs' fault. Given that there about 7,500 serious escalator-related injuries a year, that children under five are likely to be involved in these accidents, and that Crocs are very popular right now, it does seem that the Crocs company is simply a convenient, and potentially lucrative, scapegoat for a larger safety issue.

But having no personal experience with Crocs, I can't really judge the lawsuits. Do parents of Croc-toting kids find the shoes to be more dangerous than other kinds of footwear?

Photo: New York Times

Couples Sues After Failed Vasectomy

10 Ten Videos of Babies Falling (and not getting terribly hurt)

Cole Gamble — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:00:00 GMT

When you have your first baby you handle him or her like they are full of nitro glycerin. Gingerly you pick them up and set them down. Then baby starts walking and you wince when they stumble and fall. Then you watch your kid take a big spill and realize they are much sturdier than you realized. Then you pull out the old video camera and wait…

For the rest, go here.

And for more naughty kid fun, check out Brett's post

Babble Ethics: Let Your Kids Get Hurt

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:28:00 GMT

I'm trying to make this a little less self-promotional than it will probably sound, sorry, but I've received a ridiculous number of heated emails from ~~crazy~~ concerned people about a series of pictures I took showing my 2-year-old daughter in the midst of a fall. It seemed like the perfect topic for another round of Babble Ethics, even if I come off like an unfeeling moron, which never, ever happens.

"Why didn't you stop taking photos and help her?!" screamed one person.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" barked another.

And I keep thinking, jeez, it was an 8-inch fall off a curb. Granted, the curb was a little high, but I knew she'd learn something from a little tumble. Not all curbs are the same. She has to watch her step. She has to be careful on her own. Her father is more interested in taking her picture than reaching out to her.

Seriously, just how protective is too protective? Should I have sprayed her in protective foam? Put out a few pillows?

This little scene began with me stepping away from her in a deserted alley to take a photo. She groped the wall for a few minutes and then decided she wanted to jump off the curb. She studied it, gauged it, prepared to jump. And I let her, knowing full well it was a higher curb than she usually encounters, and a goodly portion of me knew she may well take a tumble.

She did.

But then of course she got up, kicked the street with her toe, mumbled something about "mother fucking shoddy masonry work!" (or something like that) and climbed back up the curb to do it again.

Still, I'm left wondering: I can't be the only person who lets their kid try things out on her own, right? Or maybe I'm just the only moron taking pictures of it. I don't know. I do appreciate the concern but it also frightens me a little to think of what happens to kids who aren't allowed to make mistakes on their own. Or maybe I'm just being defensive. Sometimes I hate you, ethics.

YouTube Goodness: Kermit's Downward Spiral

JasonAvant — Fri, 30 Mar 2007 15:36:00 GMT

I'll admit it - the idea of combining the post-metal/industrial sound of Trent Reznor's band with the chipper vocal stylings of everyone's favorite frog seems like a ridiculous idea. But we who grew up with Kermit forgot that it' s really not that easy being green (and we finally have an explanation for Kermit's impossibly skinny arms and legs; apparently you can see needle tracks in the hi-res Quicktime version).

Miss Piggy, you ought to be ASHAMED. Look at what your wicked ways have wrought.