Children across the country are at great risk of injury at this time of the year, the Red Cross Children’s Hospital warned on Tuesday.
In recent weeks the hospital’s trauma unit has seen five children under the age of three involved in serious car accidents. The only survivor was left partially paralysed.
Professor Alistair Millar said two of the four victims were siblings. He said, “One became a secondary missile and went through between the front seats…” The child’s head connected with the gear stick.
Millar warned that the festive season is their busiest time because children are on holiday.
“We see about 10,000 injuries a year and admit about 2,000 patients to our trauma unit, but this time of year children are at tremendous risk because they are on holiday.”
A survey by the Child Accident Prevention Foundation has found that 80 percent of children and adults do not wear seatbelts.
The hospital has appealed to parents to buckle up their children when they are in the car.
(Info from story by Catherine Rice, Edited by Lisa Bartlett and Lindiwe Mlandu appearing on Eyewitness News)
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