Boy chokes on Lego block

[GI blockage]

original article link.

Boy, 5, chokes on Lego block

Marissa Calligeros

August 26, 2010 - 2:00PM

A five-year-old boy remains in a critical condition in a Brisbane hospital after choking on a Lego block on the Gold Coast last night. Paramedics performed CPR on the boy at his Pimpama home about 7.30pm. He was taken to Gold Coast Hospital where the plastic block was removed from his airways. He was later transferred to the Mater Children's Hospital. A hospital spokeswoman said the boy - who had inhaled the Lego block - remained in a critical but stable condition this morning.

- with AAP

[Flare]

Ooh... that can't be good for LEGO's reputation... but they DO put warning on their boxes.

[Sawyer]

they DO put warning on their boxes.

...but noone reads them

[Siegfried]

I hope the LEGO is OK.

Ooh... that can't be good for LEGO's reputation...

I can't see it being a factor; only toys for kids under 3 needs to be designed that way. If the kid is stupid enough to choke on LEGO he probably would have trouble with sausages as well. I put LEGO in my mouth all the time and aside from feeling intense pleasure nothing has happened to me.

[fred67]

Yeah... this has little to do with a problem with LEGO bricks as much as it's proof of Darwinism.

Not that I want anything bad to happen to that boy, but by 5 most kids have figured it out, and it just goes to show you that you can hurt yourself with just about anything if you really try.

Will it hurt the reputation of LEGO? I don't know... I know some real idiot parents out there that barely let their kids do anything as it is... if they read about LEGO, I can picture some of them scouring their kid's rooms and chucking every piece. I even get in trouble with my wife just letting my kids ride their bikes (yes, with helmets and everything). It's crazy out there.

[Sirius Black]

I cant see Lego getting in trouble or losing business over this. Practically any toy, when inhaled, is dangerous. I do hope that the kid is alright though, but honestly, Legos are not edible, and it is the child's fault that this happened. Honestly, TLG cant prevent children from attempting to swallow/inhale bricks. All that they can do is provide warnings, and since they have, the people at fault are the parents and the child.

Sirius

[dr_spock]

Hopefully he learned not to do that again.

[fred67]

I cant see Lego getting in trouble or losing business over this. Practically any toy, when inhaled, is dangerous. I do hope that the kid is alright though, but honestly, Legos are not edible, and it is the child's fault that this happened. Honestly, TLG cant prevent children from attempting to swallow/inhale bricks. All that they can do is provide warnings, and since they have, the people at fault are the parents and the child.

Sirius

I (and anyone with a lick of common sense) agrees with you... it looks like it was in the Gold Coast; if it was the U.S., you'd better believe some lawyer would be out there claiming the LEGO warnings were only for kids up to 3 years old, so since it was dangerous for a 5 year old, the LEGO company is liable.

[ThatGuyWithTheBricks]

I hope the LEGO is OK.

I can't see it being a factor; only toys for kids under 3 needs to be designed that way. If the kid is stupid enough to choke on LEGO he probably would have trouble with sausages as well. I put LEGO in my mouth all the time and aside from feeling intense pleasure nothing has happened to me.

Same. I consider my mouth to be my strongest tool.

[Sirius Black]

Same. I consider my mouth to be my strongest tool.

Just a reminder, Legos aren't edible .

[Zerobricks]

Is there a thing you cant choke on? Its his fault... He's lucky to be alive IMHO.

[gratefulnat]

I seriously doubt that the boy wanted to inhale the brick, so I think calling him stupid is a little harsh. Lots of strange accidents happen in life due to whatever kind of happenstance circumstances, that's just part of the game. Maybe he also gets pleasure out of sucking on LEGO, and someone slammed a door or surprised him, and it happened. Who knows? Or did I miss some detail in the news article?

But LEGO should certainly not have to fear any legal repurcussions, as it is certainly not their fault.

I wish the boy and his family all the best, but I also hope that the parents (or any other parents) don't freak out and feel that LEGO is unsafe, because it isn't (life just happens to be unsafe sometimes).

I once went to a hospital at 2 in the morning in an ambulance with my son because his lips were turning blue and he wasn't breathing properly, and there is nothing worse (except the death of a child) than feeling so helpless as a parent in such a situation. 10 years down the road my son is fine .

I guess what I want to say is that often enough I really enjoy black humor and being macabre, but being so harsh on the kid for choking on a LEGO brick because of possible ridculous legal repurcusions that could happen for the toy we so love is just a bit too much in my opinion.

[ThatGuyWithTheBricks]

Just a reminder, Legos aren't edible .

Not eating them, just using them to separate very difficult bricks.

[escortmad79]

I even get in trouble with my wife just letting my kids ride their bikes (yes, with helmets and everything). It's crazy out there.

Let them go out & ride bikes & fall off! Climb trees & get grazed knees! There's far too much wrapping kids up in cotton wool these days!

We climbed trees, ate dirt, ate food dropped on the ground, fell off skateboards etc & we're alright! (Well most of us anyway! )

[fred67]

Let them go out & ride bikes & fall off! Climb trees & get grazed knees! There's far too much wrapping kids up in cotton wool these days!

We climbed trees, ate dirt, ate food dropped on the ground, fell off skateboards etc & we're alright! (Well most of us anyway! )

I agree. My son is 11 and she doesn't even want him to wait for the school bus by himself. When I was 11 I used to ride my bike 1.5 miles to school (with no helmet, because back then nobody wore them).

I'm telling you, though... people are getting crazy about protecting their kids! It's understandable on one hand, but on the other you need to let kids be kids!

[The Legonater]

I agree. My son is 11 and she doesn't even want him to wait for the school bus by himself. When I was 11 I used to ride my bike 1.5 miles to school (with no helmet, because back then nobody wore them).

I'm telling you, though... people are getting crazy about protecting their kids! It's understandable on one hand, but on the other you need to let kids be kids!

I know. I get sick of watching parents freak out because their kids did one small little thing.

But seriously, LEGO wouldn't get blamed. It's the kid's own silly fault. You need to be sure never to get a piece down your throat while you seperate pieces. and if you do, then you cough it up. Simple. If the parents sue, then that's just dumb.

[Emperor Claudius Rome]

Why are people calling the kid stupid? Everybody here probably almost chocked on LEGO. And he's just a kid who was probably using his teeth to pull something apart, and he accidentally breathed it, how is that stupid?

[The Legonater]

Why are people calling the kid stupid? Everybody here probably almost chocked on LEGO. And he's just a kid who was probably using his teeth to pull something apart, and he accidentally breathed it, how is that stupid?

I'm not calling him stupid, i'm just saying it's his fault, not LEGO's.

[squiz]

I seriously doubt that the boy wanted to inhale the brick, so I think calling him stupid is a little harsh. Lots of strange accidents happen in life due to whatever kind of happenstance circumstances, that's just part of the game. Maybe he also gets pleasure out of sucking on LEGO, and someone slammed a door or surprised him, and it happened. Who knows? Or did I miss some detail in the news article?

But LEGO should certainly not have to fear any legal repurcussions, as it is certainly not their fault.

I wish the boy and his family all the best, but I also hope that the parents (or any other parents) don't freak out and feel that LEGO is unsafe, because it isn't (life just happens to be unsafe sometimes).

I once went to a hospital at 2 in the morning in an ambulance with my son because his lips were turning blue and he wasn't breathing properly, and there is nothing worse (except the death of a child) than feeling so helpless as a parent in such a situation. 10 years down the road my son is fine .

I guess what I want to say is that often enough I really enjoy black humor and being macabre, but being so harsh on the kid for choking on a LEGO brick because of possible ridculous legal repurcusions that could happen for the toy we so love is just a bit too much in my opinion.

Good post, i completely agree! Calling the kid an idiot and saying this is Darwinism in action is extremely harsh! Everyone on this forum has choked on something at somepoint in their lives, these things happen. As you say the kid hardly inhaled the lego on purpose. I use my lips to hold spare pieces and if something were to make you jump im sure i would inhale a brick as well!

And this is hardly legos fault either. There are a million things out there that a 5yr old could choke on, its just one of those things. I just hope the kid makes a full recovery.

[Siegfried]

I seriously doubt that the boy wanted to inhale the brick, so I think calling him stupid is a little harsh.

I don't think so. I almost choked on an apple piece as a kid. I was eating way too fast and a large piece got stuck in my throat. I tried to call for help (everyone was in the room next door) but obviously I couldn't. As a last resort I started thumping myself on the back and I was in luck; it came loose. I felt so stupid then that I didn't tell anyone that I almost was killed by an apple, and I've never done anything like that since. (I still did loads of stupid things as a kid though; for example I used to jump on trains. Stupid.)

Today I put LEGO in my mouth all the time as often I want to hold a piece. But IMHO putting it so far into your mouth that it could be swallowed is stupid; all it takes is for you to be surprised and down it goes! If someone crosses the road with their eyes closed do they want to get run over? No. But it's stupid to do so as there's a decent chance they will.

I wish the kid and family all the best too, but I hope most of all that the boy has learned something from his experience. I sure did.

[ThatGuyWithTheBricks]

I don't think so. I almost choked on an apple piece as a kid. I was eating way too fast and a large piece got stuck in my throat. I tried to call for help (everyone was in the room next door) but obviously I couldn't. As a last resort I started thumping myself on the back and I was in luck; it came loose. I felt so stupid then that I didn't tell anyone that I almost was killed by an apple, and I've never done anything like that since. (I still did loads of stupid things as a kid though; for example I used to jump on trains. Stupid.)

Today I put LEGO in my mouth all the time as often I want to hold a piece. But IMHO putting it so far into your mouth that it could be swallowed is stupid; all it takes is for you to be surprised and down it goes! If someone crosses the road with their eyes closed do they want to get run over? No. But it's stupid to do so as there's a decent chance they will.

I wish the kid and family all the best too, but I hope most of all that the boy has learned something from his experience. I sure did.

Oy, kids are stupid and do stupid things, that's why they're kids. I honestly don't really think it's his or his parents faults, kids just don't know any better.

[Artanis I]

I don't think so. I almost choked on an apple piece as a kid. I was eating way too fast and a large piece got stuck in my throat. I tried to call for help (everyone was in the room next door) but obviously I couldn't. As a last resort I started thumping myself on the back and I was in luck; it came loose. I felt so stupid then that I didn't tell anyone that I almost was killed by an apple, and I've never done anything like that since. (I still did loads of stupid things as a kid though; for example I used to jump on trains. Stupid.)

Today I put LEGO in my mouth all the time as often I want to hold a piece. But IMHO putting it so far into your mouth that it could be swallowed is stupid; all it takes is for you to be surprised and down it goes! If someone crosses the road with their eyes closed do they want to get run over? No. But it's stupid to do so as there's a decent chance they will.

I wish the kid and family all the best too, but I hope most of all that the boy has learned something from his experience. I sure did.

Oy, kids are stupid and do stupid things, that's why they're kids. I honestly don't really think it's his or his parents faults, kids just don't know any better.

I wouldn't say "stupid" but "ignorant" (as in didn't know). I put things in power points when I was young. I had no idea it was dangerous. "Are there any staples?" "Yeah there's some in the power point." "What?!?" "I put them in there." "WHAT?!?!? You idiot!" "What's the matter?" Okay so after being told of the dangers of 240V and seeing what happened to a power point shorted out by an unfolded paperclip (it wasn't me!) I only put power plugs into power points!

How often do I choke on my own saliva? (quite) Whose fault is that? 10 years ago for some reason EVERY time I had a drink or some fluid-like food I would choke afterwards. (It's hiccups now)

True, you really shouldn't put things in your mouth unless you intend to swallow them, (admittedly I often hold Lego between my lips when I'm building/searching for pieces) it's so easy to inhale stuff from your mouth, I think that's the lesson to be learned there?

[Siegfried]

Oy, kids are stupid and do stupid things, that's why they're kids. I honestly don't really think it's his or his parents faults, kids just don't know any better.

I wouldn't say "stupid" but "ignorant" (as in didn't know).

Very true. The best way to learn is to make mistakes... providing you can make a full recovery from them that is.

I put things in power points when I was young. I had no idea it was dangerous. "Are there any staples?" "Yeah there's some in the power point." "What?!?" "I put them in there." "WHAT?!?!? You idiot!" "What's the matter?" Okay so after being told of the dangers of 240V and seeing what happened to a power point shorted out by an unfolded paperclip (it wasn't me!) I only put power plugs into power points!

I did that as a kid even though I knew it was dangerous! Made a really cool ball of electricity!

[Forresto]

It must be a .........Megablock!

[Sisco]

It must be a .........Megablock!

:laugh:

Sorry, kind of dark humor there.

Sad story, I hope he's okay. I have to agree with the people who say he probably didn't mean to inhale the brick; but he does need to be more careful.

Edited August 27, 2010 by cralegoboy