Previous articles here by myself and other writers have discussed trampoline safety (see articles listed below). When I wrote about it, I did take it seriously, but I realize just how important it is now that my daughter was injured. Trampolines can be fun but they can also be quite dangerous. My daughter now makes up one of those 100,000 per year emergency room statistics.
My thirteen year old suffered a severely sprained ankle while jumping on the trampoline recently. We’re not just talking a twisted ankle that felt better a day or two later. She’s been on crutches and probably will be for a couple more weeks, maybe even another month.
We of course took her for X-rays and then did a follow up with our family doctor. While there are no breaks or fractures, I have to say, I have never seen such a bad sprain. Her ankle looked like a tennis ball and was badly bruised. She was in a great deal of pain and it is still very uncomfortable.
Unfortunately, she’s not going to be able to join the cross country team at school now either, because she simply cannot walk, much less run.
While we enforce the safety rules or give time outs from trampoline use if they are not followed, this was just a “kids being kids” occurrence. One child was getting on as another was getting off and they couldn’t resist bouncing each other during that moment. It was innocent and intended in fun but it led to a painful injury, an evening spent in the emergency room, crutches, missing out on activities at the end of the summer as well as sports when school starts, and it will still entail more visits to the doctor.
I decided to share this in the hope that others will take trampoline safety very seriously so no one else has to go through this or worse.
See these related articles:
Is a Trampoline Right For Your Child?