‘Helpless’: Common household item kills 2yo boy

A grieving mother has warned others to be careful of a common household item after her 22-month-old son’s life was taken in a horror accident.

A grieving US mother has warned others to be careful of a common household item after her 22-month-old son’s life was taken in a horror accident.

Lindsay Dewey, from Idaho, has revealed how she was less than three metres away from her son Reed and making dinner when he was believed to have been pulling his suction cup bowl off a large freestanding mirror.

“Last I saw him he was sitting near the kitchen by the pool table playing with magnatiles by himself. I never even saw him with a bowl … I never even heard him playing by/with the mirror. Until I heard it fall and then within five seconds I lifted it off of him,” she revealed in a gut-wrenching Instagram post.

Reed was two months shy of his second birthday when he died. Picture: Instagram/@lindsaymdewey

She said she immediately knew her son wasn’t simply in shock but that something was seriously wrong with her little boy.

Her husband, Eric, was thankfully only three minutes away running errands and able to be by his family’s side quickly. Mrs Dewey said during the wait for support she felt “helpless”.

He arrived and quickly started to work on Reed, with paramedics just three minutes behind. They discovered the mirror hit the little boy in the “most precise way” that fractured his skull and caused a traumatic brain injury.

Mrs Dewey explained that because the mirror was so large and the kids couldn’t move it, the urgency to anchor it to the wall simply wasn’t there. That has since been remedied.

The mum's warning. Picture: Instagram/@lindsaymdewey

The second part of the mum's warning. Picture: Instagram/@lindsaymdewey

Reed, the youngest of the couple’s three children, was rushed to hospital as a result of his injuries. He was eventually declared brain dead.

The parents chose to donate their son’s organs, Mrs Dewey said, although her son never got his miracle, he was the “miracle” to five other children.

A mirror fell on Reed. Picture: Instagram/@lindsaymdewey

“I couldn’t stop thinking about the families who got the best call of their life, their answered prayer,” she wrote in a heartbreaking Instagram post in February.

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand why our prayer wasn’t answered, but God knows all things. Even though this is not fair on every single level, we’re so proud of you baby.

“All he knew was love and all he gave was love. We were so lucky and blessed to have been given 22 sweet months of being his parents and protectors. The hallways were lined up with family, friends, and nurses, There to honour you.”

Lindsay Dewey has issued a warning to parents. Picture: Instagram/@lindsaymdewey

She said a piece of herself will always be missing until the pair are reunited.

Now, Mrs Dewey is using her family’s tragedy to stop it from happening to any others.

“We’re only sharing this because we don't want this happening to anybody. A few close people we’ve told literally started naming off items in their house that weren't anchored, and it hit home for them because they literally could have been in our situation,” she said.

“We know we will be judged for this … but anyone who spreads misinformation or has anything negative to say will just be blocked.”

Originally published as ‘Helpless’: Common household item kills 2yo boy