From the news: A 5-year-old boy from La Plata died Friday night after authorities say a gust of wind carried a moon bounce he was playing inside up to 20 feet in the air before landing on a baseball field at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf.
As the moon bounce at a Southern Maryland Blue Crabs baseball game lifted into the air, it caused “children to fall before it landed on the playing field,” according to a Charles County government news release. The 5-year-old, whose name has not yet been released, was transported to a hospital and was later pronounced dead. Authorities said another child, whose name and age was not shared, suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
Witnesses are saying that the bounce house was staked to the ground, but no one is sure how many kids were playing in it when the wind gust carried it away. 911 was called at 9:20 pm.
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| This is the collapsed bounce house, still on the field. |
This seems to happen too often. 479 people were hurt and 28 were killed in wind-related bounce house incidents from 2000 to 2021. Experts advise that even a minor gust of wind can be dangerous, and that an adult should always be monitoring the house at all times.
We don't know what was going on Friday night. All of Central Maryland had wind, lightning, and rain storms that night, but who knows if the blast of wind that carried these kids off, killing one of them, was the first to come to the stadium. Were storm and wind warnings posted? There were advisories up here where we live, but I don't know how much advance notice they had in Waldorf.
Chemistry sets, lawn darts, Super Elastic Bubble Plastic, real tire swings, clackers, metal sliding boards, lead paint, Easy-Bake ovens, Creepy Crawlers are all things that we didn't know enough to know were bad and/or dangerous. I know these bouncy toys are incredibly popular with kids and young families.
I believe kids can live without them.
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