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Inspired Mom Takes Action

By Andrea Reich

Mothers across the world gasped when they saw pictures of Britney Spears with her 8-month-old child in her lap sans seatbelt as she raced down the Pacific Coast Highway. Most parents can say they would never ride in the car without their child secured in a car seat or seatbelt. Then why would you let your child ride on a lawnmower where there are no seatbelts? A riding lawnmower is considered to be a motor vehicle. Therefore, children under the age of 16 should not be allowed to ride alone or with an adult on a riding lawnmower. That is why Angelique Carlin developed Kyra’s Wish Foundation and the Web site www.kyraswishfoundation.org . The  Foundation is a non-profit organization hoping to educate children and parents alike about the dangers of lawn mowers.

Three years after a tragic lawnmower accident that robbed Angelique’s daughter Kyra of half her right foot, and all of her right toes, she is taking a stand against the tragic injuries incurred by the landscaping machine found at almost everyone’s house.

“After doing the research and seeing these numbers, I just can’t sit still and let another child get severely maimed and killed from an injury that’s preventable,” Angelique explained.

Ten thousand children are injured each year by lawnmowers. A study released in April titled “Lawnmower Injuries in the United States: 1996 to 2004” in The Annals of Emergency Medicine stated that children under 15 had “substantial injury occurrence.”

Because of the severity of the injuries caused by lawnmower accidents, Angelique is crusading from local elementary schools all the way to Washington D.C. to get her point heard. Angelique lectures at schools in the area about the dangers of riding lawn mowers. About twice a year she travels to Washington, lobbying to have a law passed making it illegal for children under the age of 16 to be on a riding lawnmower. 

“I know living in a shore area, a lot of people don’t [take] notice of the whole lawnmower injury and death thing,” Angelique said. “They don’t understand it and they don’t comprehend it. And who better understands that…I never ever knew how dangerous lawnmowers were until it happened to my daughter.”

While many people think it is an innocent act for their child to sit on their lap while helping with the yard work, it states on most riding lawnmowers that children under the age of 16 are not permitted to sit on the vehicle.

Although Kyra, 9, is doing fine now, participating in ballet, tap and gymnastic classes again, she is an exception. Her mother describes her as “an inspiration.” Angelique is trying to get the word out about lawnmower safety and hopes to open a camp in the future for children who have survived a lawnmower accident but still have physical disabilities now.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission advises adults to never take children on riding mowers and to keep them inside and supervised at all times when power equipment is being used. Also, never allow children to enter the mowing area and never expect children to be where you last saw them.

Kyra has one hope for her organization: “I hope that the message can help kids stop going on lawnmowers…[because] they might fall off.”

Andrea Reich is the associate editor of Curious Parents.