New York – A Brooklyn toddler’s finger was sheared off by a dangerously designed hinge joint on a Maclaren stroller more than five years before the British baby-supply giant issued a massive recall, according to court papers.
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Shannon Windram, who was just 2½ at the time, was with her mom, Elizabeth, at the Fleet Bank on Fifth Avenue at 69th Street when the accident — allegedly caused by a Maclaren Quest stroller — occurred.
“It just felt helpless, seeing our baby there with a portion of her finger hanging by a thread of skin and hoping for a miracle,” said dad Thomas, 44, who rushed from his MTA bus route to Lutheran Hospital to be by his daughter’s side after the March 2004 tragedy.
“It just tore a deep hole in our hearts that we haven’t been able to heal to this day.”
He said doctors reattached the finger, which was severed near the first knuckle, but warned the Sunset Park couple that it was not likely to take. A few weeks later, the tip blackened, and Shannon returned to the hospital to have the top of the finger amputated.
“I wouldn’t want any other children to go through this situation,” said Windram. “It doesn’t just affect the child. It affects the parents. You never heal from it.”
The suit, filed earlier this month in Brooklyn Supreme Court, is the first in the city since Maclaren issued a million-stroller recall in November.
The company said it issued the voluntary recall after receiving reports of 12 children losing fingers. The Windrams’ lawyer, Harry Burstein, said Shannon’s accident was not one of those 12.
“Parents should be able to rely on a product that is designed for use by young children. When they bought this, they had a right . . . to assume it would be safe,” said Burstein.
The company declined to clarify whether it was aware of the incident at the time of the recall.
“We cannot comment on specific matters as we treat these with the utmost privacy,” said company spokeswoman Charlotte Addison.
As for Windram, he said after the trauma of watching his daughter lose her finger, there’s been no stroller at all in his house.
“I carried her instead,” he said. “Just my arms. It’s a paranoia I have even today, with my 4-year-old. I carry him everywhere.”
My son’s thumb was partially amputated by a malfunctioning stroller when he was 18 months. Maybe he should get on the lawsuit bandwagon, he’s 26 now and married.
Sounds like stupidly designed stroller. Sue them, maybe they’ll use their brain next time they decide to make a product for children.
These lawsuits are ridiculous. Maybe I should sue Acura because I slammed the car door on my fingerof Rowenta because I burned my finger. Any idiot knows that a finger doesn’t belong in a mechanism meant open and close. These are hinges for heaven’s sake.
Really? The father said they will NEVER be able to heal from this? Lets take a step back for a moment…..This WAS a horrific event, but the child will still have a completley normal life. How about he goes over to St. Jude and talk to some of those parents. Parents who have recieved an experation date on their child will NEVER heal…..HE should be just fine.
I feel terrible for the kid, however, cant any stroller cut off a finger if it is placed in the mechanism while it is being closed? Isnt this more on the parents? I wont sue Goodyear because i ran over someones foot and the tire crushed his toes.
the difference between this and acura, rowenta or goodyear is that products made for use with children generally take into account the fact that children will stick their fingers in everywhere. There’s a simple fix and maclaren is taking care of it.
Also, I can understand how a parent will never get over it. They have to look at the stump of their daughter’s finger every day, and while she will live a normal life, there will be things that she cant do as well or as easily as the rest of us.. Yes there are children and parents who are worse off but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the pain of this family.
That being said, these parents are clearly not motivated by “not wanting other children to go through this situation” I think they are trying to get money out of a big faceless corporation and this scheme has worked before so why not give it a try?