Children can be playful, but that often results in unwanted accidents.
For one child, a fall near the vicinity of a playground caused him to be permanently disfigured.
This is what happened to the child.
Boy’s Play Time Turned Into a Nightmare When He Hit His Head on a Cracked Pavement
Late last month, on 31 May (Wednesday), a tragic accident occurred at the walkway near the playground beside Block 417A, Fernville Link, in Sengkang. The accident occurred around 5 pm in the afternoon.
A young boy fell and hit the pavement. Hard. His head then split open, exposing the bone underneath.
The young boy was only two and a half years old then.
According to the young boy’s mother, Ms Guo Xin Li (Hanyu pinyin), the boy had been brought out to the playground for some playtime by the domestic helper. At the time of the accident, Ms Guo was at home, getting ready to go to work.
The local Chinese newspaper, Shin Min, reports that Ms Guo is 37 years old and works as an insurance agent.
What apparently happened was that while the child was on the way to play, he accidentally slipped. Unfortunately, he fell and hit his forehead on the pavement.
What could have been a light bruise or small cut turned into something much more serious because the young boy’s head happened to hit the part of the pavement which had cracked.
And after the child’s head hit the ground, it cracked (with a visible hole in his forehead).
Ouch. We are cringing just at the thought of the injury. How much pain was the young child in after he fell?
Shocked by the incident, the maid immediately carried the child home after witnessing the accident.
In an image posted in the article by Shin Min, a woman is pointing at a crack in the ground. This is presumably where the young boy fell and hit his head.
A long, visible crack runs through the pavement, and there appear to be some sharp edges around the cracks.
We definitely do not envy anyone who falls here. Even a knee scrap looks like it would be exceedingly painful.
According to Ms Guo, she almost broke down when she saw her son after the accident.
The cracked portion of his forehead was so bad that she could see the bone inside his head.
Honestly, we had chills when we heard about this. What mother wants to see the skull of her child on display? It must have been a bloody bad sight to witness.
The bone was visible to the naked eye as the wound on the young boy’s forehead was about 2 cm in length.
Because of the accident, Ms Guo cancelled her job for the day and quickly sent her child to a private hospital for treatment.
Two-Year-Old Boy Received Treatment at a Private Hospital and Received 24 Stitches
Upon the boy’s arrival at the hospital, the doctors immediately operated on the boy. They gave him a total of 24 stitches.
These 24 stitches comprised eight stitches each to the inner muscles layer, deep layers of the skin and the surface layer of the skin.
We can only imagine how deep the wound must be for so many layers of skin to be affected. And eight stitches on a small two and a half-year-old boy must mean that the wound was pretty long.
In an image shared in the original article by Shin Min, the young boy appears to be receiving treatment from a team of at least three medical staff.
The young boy can be seen wailing in pain as one medical staff holds his head in place with gloved hands. There are two other people taking photos of the young boy.
Possibly to document his injuries before they start the treatment.
Ms Guo also shared that her child had to remain in the hospital for two nights after the operation. This was so that the medical team could keep an eye on the child’s condition.
As such, the medical bill for the child came up to $8,400. However, the medical costs do not stop there.
As the stitches are expected to leave a scar on the child’s face, there may be further cosmetic procedures required in the future to reduce the appearance of the scar. Ms Guo intends to have her child undergo laser treatment to reduce the uneven surface of his skin and remove some scar tissue.
This treatment is planned to be carried out once the child fully recovers from the accident.
In relation to the cracked pavement, which caused her son much grief, Ms Guo expressed her bewilderment as to why the pavement was not patched up.
She now intends to claim medical expenses from the authorities for neglecting to maintain the area and causing harm to her child. She also wants the authorities to patch up the pavement as soon as possible.
This comes from a mother’s heart. Ms Guo also conveyed that she hoped no other children get hurt because of these pavements.
What do you think about this incident? Should the town council or authorities responsible for the area have been more vigilant in maintaining the area, or was the domestic helper negligent in not watching the child as he ran around?