IKEA has been in hot waters for quite some time now, especially after the death of three toddlers in the United States forced the Swedish manufacturer to recall 29 million of its Malm drawers across America.
According to reports, IKEA will offer full refunds or store credit to it’s Stateside customers who bought one of its dressers while also withdrawing the range from its US stores.
Despite this move, however, IKEA UK is sparking outrage anew after refusing to back down and withdraw the same dressers.
They said that the offending items, costing between £49 and £99, have met legal requirements in Britain and will continue to be sold in their stores.
Now a British mother has unleashed her own fury, especially after her three-year-old daughter was allegedly crushed by an IKEA set which rendered her “scarred for life.”
A Mirror story said that 25-year-old Kellie Curtis entered daughter Evie-Mai’s bedroom to discover her trapped under the Malm drawers covered in blood.
As soon as she heard the bang, the mother said, she immediately knew what had happened.
“When I came in, the drawers were on top of her and I just saw the blood on the side of her face,” she said. “She was in hysterics and crying her eyes out. I just thought she was going to die.”
Photo credit: Mercury Press / Mirror
Evie Mai was rushed to the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham where she received 20 stitches to close the gash on her temple and was kept there overnight.
The news of the recall pleased Kellie, but she believes the company didn’t go far enough to implement it in the UK.
“It would be nice to see a ban or a recall brought in over here too but until then it is important to raise awareness for people who have the drawers in their homes that they need to be screwed into the wall.”
Next page find out how you can child-proof your home
Child-proofing your furniture
When it comes to your children’s health and wellbeing, it’s better to be safe than sorry. Here are some tips from Health.com as to how you can child-proof such furniture.
- Secure furniture to the wall. If you aren’t sure how to do this, home improvement stores and child retail stores should be able to offer advice. It’s also a good idea to replace any top-heavy furniture that can’t be secured. This is particularly important for furniture with shelves, drawers and doors.
- Make sure that all computer monitors are also safely secured so they can’t tip over.
- Store television and computer equipment close to the ground. Other heavy and commonly used objects should also be stored low to the ground.
- Don’t put objects on top of TVs.
- Large wall art or sculptures that could fall and hurt a child should be secured or removed.
- Appliances, such as refrigerators, ovens and microwaves, should also be firmly in place.
- Mounted TVs should be well out of reach of young children.
READ: Childproofing oversight causes dresser to crush an infant to death
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