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The Danger Dangling From Your Laptop
Like many families, these days, we have a computer or two floating around the house. We use them for work, for fun, for watching videos, and, yes, for managing our rather extensive music collection. And because I am rarely without my laptop, there are a number of power supplies for it scattered about the house — living room, bedroom, my office. It has crossed my mind, among my worst-case-scenario imaginings, that they might be a hazard, but I never really thought a kid would actually put the end of a cord in his mouth. Well, color me wrong.
Sixteen-month-old Trinity Anderson was playing near where her mother’s laptop was charging. Connected to the laptop was the USB cable for an iPod — a Christmas gift. Little Trinity put the end of the cord in her mouth; her mother found her unconscious and with third-degree burns inside her mouth. Luckily, not only is Trinity’s mom a certified emergency medical technician studying to be a nurse, but the family also lives but a block from the local hospital. Rhianna Anderson got her daughter to the E.R. in under a minute. From there, she was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital in Denver.
According to Jeffrey Anderson, the girl’s grandfather, who has hired an electrical engineer to investigate the accident, there is more involved than just the iPod cable. Still, it doesn’t hurt to be safe. “Take inventory of electrical cords in your house and unplug them when they aren’t in use,” he told the Denver Post earlier. Even if it was a fluke accident that will never occur again, it is, I think, better to be safe than sorry. I think I’ll be unplugging some of those power supplies I have laying around!
Photo: abbyyy
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3 Comments
Lindsay commented on Jan 11 10 at 11:58 amOnce, my 8-month old daughter was playing on the floor and discovered our desktop computer. I turned my back for two seconds, and when I looked back, she was seconds away from putting in the wrong end of a power cord in her mouth. We were lucky! I hope this little girl ends up okay.
Ticktock commented on Jan 11 10 at 2:22 pmI just unplugged my ipod cord from the computer. Thanks for the advice!
Giant Panda commented on Jan 12 10 at 12:13 amOMG, my son has actually done this several times with his father’s iPhone cord… I am pulling that sucker out right away.
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