Toddler found 'hanging from lift-up bed' in freak accident

The two-year-old boy was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham and has since made a full recovery

Alexandra Sims
Friday 29 April 2016 19:08 BST
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Buddy George was 'blue in the face' and unresponsive after becoming caught in the hydraulic 'Ottoman-type' bed
Buddy George was 'blue in the face' and unresponsive after becoming caught in the hydraulic 'Ottoman-type' bed

A toddler has been found hanging unconscious from a lift-up bed after his neck became caught in a loop dangling from the contraption.

Charlotte Hames, 30, said she found her two-year-old son, Buddy George, "blue in the face" and unresponsive after becoming caught in the hydraulic “Ottoman-type” bed.

Ms Hames, from Kirk Hallam, Derbyshire, said: “I was in the bathroom and thought Buddy had gone quiet so I shouted up to him but got no response.

"I had a gut instinct something was wrong so rushed to our bedroom where he'd been playing and found him hanging by his neck from the bed's lifting loop.

"He was blue in the face and not breathing - I was frantic."

Buddy was taken to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham on Monday and has since made a full recovery.

Ms Hames and her partner, Anthony Ancliff, who live in Kirk Hallam, Derbyshire and have two other small children, are warning fellow parents about the beds, which have a loop to pull the bed up on hinges revealing storage space inside.

Mr Ancliff said: "Our children mean everything to us and we couldn't imagine carrying on if anything had happened to Buddy. That's why we want to warn other parents about the potential danger caused by these lifting loops and remove them - don't take the chance.”

Derbyshire County Council’s training standards team said the bed had a one-foot loop, which is pulled to begin lifting the bed up before the hydraulics take over. They said the bed requires someone of adult height and weight to pull it down.

The council said it was investigating the incident and is speaking to the Bed Federation about suspending “the supply of similar products” as well as having the loop modified.

A statement from Bensons for Beds, who sold the bed to the family, said the family’s bed will be “collected and replaced with an alternative” and a “full investigation” will take place.

Additional reporting by Press Association

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