'I didn’t know about kids and lawn mowers - I'm so embarrassed'

"I grew up riding on the mower and didn’t think twice about it."

A mum has apologised after sharing footage of her toddler riding a lawn mower. 

Haley Orrock sparked concern with a viral clip of her son, Theo, sitting atop of a running mower while it was being pushed by his father. 

The comment section expressed deep alarm for Theo’s safety, sharing warnings and horror stories with the mother, who works as a "death investigator".  

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"In case you didn’t know: DON’T DO THIS.”

Hayley decided to remove the post from TikTok, but she has since reshared the footage with an update. 

“This went viral because I didn’t know about kids and lawn mowers,” she admits in the text on the footage. 

In the caption of the post she expands on the lesson she has learned amidthe backlash. 

“This is a little embarrassing to share,” she starts in the clip.

“I ended up taking down the original video because too many people weren’t reading the caption, and I realised I might be spreading a bad idea instead of awareness. So in case you didn’t know: DON’T DO THIS.” 

Haley explained she herself had ridden on lawn mowers as a child.  

“Looking back it seems so obviously dangerous. But I grew up riding on the mower and didn’t think twice about it,” she revealed.

She’s thankful that the warning came before living through the experience of a potential horrific injury. 

“I’m just grateful I learned the risk before my baby got hurt,” she said.  

Image: TikTok/bonesandbuilds

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"You’re a death investigator and didn’t know the dangers of sharp blades?”

Her goal is to educate others by sharing the video. 

“Sharing now in hopes of saving a few tiny fingers and toes, especially for the parents who grew up feral like me,” she explained. 

Despite her realisation, the comment section was still fairly unforgiving. 

“You… didn’t know your toddler shouldn’t perch atop of a large motorised spinning blade?” one commenter questioned. 

“What's terrifying to me is both mum AND dad didn't realise this was a bad idea.” another said. 

A third pointed out the irony: “You’re a brave one to reshare this, but also you’re a death investigator and didn’t know the dangers of sharp blades?” 

“It’s common sense I fear,” a fourth bluntly wrote. 

Others offered praise for taking action and better educating herself. 

“Thank you for spreading awareness of just how unsafe this is. My husband is a paramedic and has seen too many kids hurt by lawnmowers,” one woman said. 

Another defended her from the hate: “She literally admitted she was wrong, took accountability and improved. And she’s still getting hate. She was braver than other mums who are wrong and never own up to it.”  

Originally published as 'I didn’t know about kids and lawn mowers - I'm so embarrassed'