Young Boy Hurt In Tobogganing Accident
Posted January 27, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A little boy was rushed to hospital after a tobogganing accident Saturday afternoon.
The mishap happened in Eglinton Park, at Eglinton and Avenue Road. The three-year-old youngster apparently crashed into a wall of a Toronto Rec Centre around 2pm and hit his head.
When paramedics arrived at the scene, the child was unconscious.
There are signs posted in the park where the boy was hurt, warning people not to toboggan because of a concrete wall at the bottom of the slope.
Toronto EMS received five calls Saturday for toboggan-related injuries — all involving children under the age of 10.
This accident comes just days after some Vaughan city councillors said they were considering making helmets mandatory for tobogganers after two children died in sledding crashes this month, including an eight-year-old girl who died north of Montreal and a 12-year-old Manitoba boy.
Tobogganing accidents have claimed seven lives across the country since 2003 and have caused thousands of injuries.
It’s estimated that only about three percent of sledders wear head protection when they hit the hills.
“We encourage parents to buy a helmet. Maybe is looks a little bit geeky but you don’t want to be in the hospital,” Toronto EMS worker Andrew Mugford said after Saturday’s accident.
The head of the trauma prevention centre at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre agrees that kids should wear helmets when they climb on their toboggans, but believes an education campaign should come before legislation.
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