Woman’s Story Goes Viral After Death of Child When Mirror Fell on Him While She Was Cooking Dinner

Lindsay Dewey resists being labeled a “parenting influencer,” yet she’s glad her experience is raising awareness about the risks of unsecured heavy objects in homes, despite the pain of revisiting her own story.

Lindsay Dewey endured the unimaginable two months ago when a horrible household accident resulted in the loss of her 22-month-old son, Reed. Now, she’s having to relive the tragedy as her story of loss has gone viral, but the mom is choosing to see the positive.

In sharing Reed’s story in a lengthy series of Instagram Stories posts, Lindsay admitted she was nervous about how it would be received, and how she and her family might be perceived. The internet, after all, can be a cruel place.

At the same time, though, she felt it was important to try and do her small part to raise awareness about securing household furniture and even items like mirrors, as that’s what resulted in her own heartbreaking loss.

While she can only speculate as to exactly what happened, Lindsay is assuming that her son “had one of his suction bowl cups and stuck it on the mirror and was pulling it ‘back and forth’ to pry it off,” according to her IG Stories.

She said that she was just ten feet away from him at the time, cooking dinner, and she heard nothing, at least until she heard the mirror itself fall. Afterward, though, she said she still heard no sound from Reed, so was unaware he was even under the mirror until she lifted it.

Even still, he didn’t make a sound, was awake, and looked completely unharmed. As she picked him up, she wrote, “I was relieved thinking he must’ve been okay just in shock or something …but no… he was not the Reed I knew.”

Lindsay wrote that after picking up her soon and based on “how he was acting, I immediately knew something was VERY wrong and that it was serious.” How serious, she never fathomed, writing, “never did we expect it to be so serious that he wouldn’t survive it.”

As it turns out, she shared, “the mirror hit his head in the most precise way and fractured his skull — obviously causing a TBI [traumatic brain injury].”

She wrote that the “Batallion chief said ‘it was the perfect storm.’

Sharing as Warning: ‘Was on the To-Do List’

When she had put the mirror back against the wall, Lindsay wrote, “I noticed his bowl was stuck to it and I was like WTH?! Then it hit me. I figured out EXACTLY how it happened.”

Describing the mirror, Lindsay said, “It’s one of those heavy duty mirrors that lean on the wall.” She said that the mirror had been in that spot for over a year and they’d never had any issues with it with any of their kids.

“There is no way our kids are strong enough to move it, let alone pull it down on themselves,” she wrote, “and we knew that so the urgency to anchor it wasn’t there.”

That said, she did acknowledge that “anchoring it was on the to-do list.” On top of that, “literally everything in our house is baby proofed, but now we have to live with this for the rest of our lives.”

She shared some of the babyproofing measures in her house, including window locks, gates, monitors, outlet covers and more, emphasizing that “it hurts even more when it happens to a family (us) who tries so hard to protect our kids… It’s not like we sit around on our butts all day and are lazy when it comes to protecting our babies.”

“We just didn’t secure one major item, is what it boils down to.”

Her hope is that by sharing her story, others might take a moment to reconsider their own safety and preparedness.

“Be mindful of your suction utensils and suction toys around any furniture or mirrors, as well as anchoring items that are heavy, even if you’d never think that they could tip over,” she added, “Apparently they can.”

Backlash Concerns: ‘Nothing Scares Me Anymore’

In another post, Lindsay wrote of her anxiety about even sharing her story with the public, but felt compelled to reach out. “We didn’t owe anybody an explanation and I know that,” she wrote. “But truly I shared this only for awareness purposes.”

“We know we will be judged for this, she wrote in another slide, “but anyone who spreads misinformation and/or has anything negative to say will just be blocked. We have enough trauma and heartache as it is.”

“This shouldn’t have happened,” she continued. “Keep your opinions to yourselves as this was clearly a quick and freak accident that could potentially happen to anyone.”

Lindsay wrote that she and her family had gone back and forth before she decided to go ahead and tell their story, regardless of any potential backlash. “This could potentially save another child and that makes all the backlash worth it,” she wrote.

“Anything you think or say about the situation won’t bring our baby back so just remember that,” she wrote. “I have thick skin so nothing you say is gonna break me. My biggest fear came true. Nothing scares me anymore.”

Family Impact: ‘Yes Our Babies Were Home’

As people began responding to Lindsay’s initial posts with questions, she offered some more details about that fateful day, including her final happy memory with Reed before the tragic accident.

For one, she reiterated how grateful she was that her husband Eric wasn’t in California at the time, as he commutes there to work. He was out of the house, though, but just down the street. Their other children were home.

“The kids came running when they heard my reaction of seeing the mirror falling,” she wrote, “so unfortunately, they saw the whole thing.” She shared that her daughter tried to go to Reed and became “hysterical because she obviously saw the panic on my face.” Her other young son, she wrote she was thankful was too young to comprehend what was going on.

She said she was immediately worried her daughter would be traumatized by the experience, “because she’s very sensitive and holds onto things,” but “by the grace of God, she has showed no signs of actual trauma.”

That said, Lindsay shared that the kids do clearly remember the incident, as she’s heard them comment when looking at the mirror things like, “I hate the mirror for hurting Reed” and “I’m sad that the mirror fell on Reed.”

She praised her husband for his attentiveness, returning home immediately — arriving even before the paramedics. “He knew exactly what to do to help him and as soon as the medics got to the house, he just started listing off everything that was wrong with him,” she wrote, “so they were able to get the info and jumpstart on what was needed to do..which I think definitely helped give us extra time.”

Lindsay also shared that she was grateful that Reed’s injuries appeared to be internal, and that on the outside he “still looked like our normal, precious baby boy.” She admitted that she “can’t even fathom how we would be right now if it had physically hurt him on the outside… I’m not sure I would ever be able to get that image out of my head.”

Instead, she has the memory of his final moment before the accident. She said her two older children were playing in the front room and Reed was by himself playing by the pool table.

“I remember looking right at him when I passed him and thought how cute it was he was playing by himself instead of with his siblings… He was jus so content and happy,” she wrote. “And that was the last memory or image I have in my head of him when he was the Reed that we all knew. At least he was happy doing what he loved most, playing with magna tiles.”

Positive Reactions: ‘So Kind and Encouraging’

Despite her concerns, Lindsay returned to her Instagram Stories to share the mostly positive reactions her story has been receiving.

“Honestly, when I shared the accident, I truly didn’t expect people to start sharing it,” she wrote, “and when I saw the first few people sharing it, it put a pit in my stomach and my first thoughts were, ‘Well here we go… it’s now out there and it’s being shared.'”

But she discovered that her fears were quickly unfounded, as most of the responses she’s received were positive and supportive. “Seeing how many of you can relate to this and how many didn’t have any of their items anchored, definitely helped us not feel so alone in this,” she wrote.

She shared an image of the large mirror from her home, revealing that it was designed not to be mounted, but to lean against a wall … “BUT it still can be anchored,” she added. “Obv it got anchored right after the accident to prevent this happening again).

She also shared that she finally couldn’t resist anymore trying to see exactly what had happened with Reed, so she took the bowl he had used and recreated what she believes happened that day.

“The suction is strong (never when you need it to be) but apparent it is on a mirror,” she wrote, adding that after using hardly any strength to pull, she was “shocked how easy it was to pull the mirror slightly off the wall (Just enough for it to tip).”

While continuing to share reactions from other parents who are anchoring furniture and taking other measures to protect their children, Lindsay commented, “As much as it still makes my heart ache to know Reed had to be the one to pass away for people to be reminded, I’m glad awareness is spreading. No one is exempt from a tragic accident.”

As messages kept “coming a few times a day” over the weeks, Lindsay again returned to the platform to share that she “did NOT expect the ‘awareness’ to travel so far and wide. God knew… and I’m glad it has. Prevention is everything.”

Viral to Mainstream: ‘Absurd Title’

Then, as her story hit mainstream media, with write-ups in People and E! News, among others, Lindsay was grateful her story and message were getting an even wider reach, while pushing back against the narrative that she’s a “parenting influencer,” and expressing how hard it is to have to now relive it all over again.

“God give us strength. All these people are tardy to the party … and this has been our nightmare since February,” she captioned one story share. “More awareness is spreading and I’m thankful for that, which is why I shared what happened in the first place.”

“But it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with,” she continued. “Beauty from ashes. That’s what I keep telling myself.”

She also made it clear that she did not share any of her story, or photographs, rather waking up to People’s coverage on her Facebook feed: “What a lovely thing to see…”

That said, though, she characterized their title as “ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING” for labeling her a “parenting influencer.” Lindsay argued, “What even is that and WHEN did I ever claim that or give myself that absurd title? Absolute nonsense.”

She went on to argue she’s not an influencer at all, and doesn’t care about follower numbers — noting that hers jumped after she initially shared Reed’s story.

“So to paint the picture that I’m just another self-centered influencer is appalling,” she wrote. “I’m just your average mama of 3, homemaker, fire wife- who is obsessed with her family..living in ID, nothing outrageous.”

She also wrote that as a result of some “misinformation and incorrect assumptions,” she’s been getting hit with more “disgusting comments,” which she is just blocking: “Can’t keep up, nor do I want to.”

“I’ll just continue to choose the positive out of this and hope that this does more good than it does harm,” she concluded.

via: TooFab

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