A graphic photo showing a playground accident that broke a year-old girl’s leg is calling national attention to slide safety for young children.
The photo shows the child riding down a slide in her mother's lap. The girl's foot is caught in a corner of the slide, contorted and angled back unnaturally.
Heather Clare is the mother in the photo, and she told USA TODAY that she shared the photo publicly for the first time to warn parents. The post has gained national attention and been shared over 90,000 times.
The photo was captured in September 2015 when her daughter Meadow had recently turned a year old, Clare said.
Clare — a school psychologist who lives on Long Island, New York — has shared the photo privately before but chose to go public after realizing more people needed to hear her message.
At the time, Clare thought that the safe way for a child Meadow’s age to go down a slide was in an adult’s lap.
Clare had just finished going down the slide with Meadow’s twin brother before the photo was taken. She said she took steps to make sure the children’s legs were tucked safely in her lap.
But when it was Meadow’s turn, the child’s leg came loose.
Clare said she knew there was a problem when the photo was being taken. She attempted to slow down, but it was too late.
When they reached the bottom of the slide, Meadow was crying — a cry unlike any Clare had heard from the child before.
Meadow had broken her right leg's tibia and fibula.
When they reached the emergency room, a doctor informed her the injury was common for small children.
“I had no idea. I thought everyone took their kids down the slide,“ Clare wrote in her Facebook post.
She says many playgrounds do not have signs warning of the danger, which has been documented in government studies.
“Many parents believe they are increasing the safety of their young child by placing the child on their lap while going down a playground slide,” according to a 2009 study published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
But the study found compelling evidence against that notion.
“Parents should be educated not to go down a slide with a child on their lap. If the child is unable to use the slide independently, another activity would be more appropriate,” the study says.
Clare says Meadow was fortunate. She recovered fully after weeks in a cast and months of physical therapy.
The now 3-year-old even goes down slides.
Clare said she is shocked by the reaction to the photo — most of it has been positive.
She’s just glad the word is getting out. She hopes that the attention will lead to more clear warnings at playgrounds across the country.
“I don’t want anybody to be hurt or have the guilt I had, that I still have," she said.
