Warning to parents after twin girls, 4, suffocate to death inside a toy box with their arms wrapped around each other
PARENTS have been warned following the tragic deaths of two four-year-old twins who suffocated after becoming trapped inside a toy chest.
The girls, Aurora and Kellan from Florida, ran out of oxygen and were found the next day with their arms wrapped around each other.
Their older brother made the heartbreaking discovery on Saturday morning, assuming they were just fast asleep.
Parents in the UK have now been urged by an accident prevention charity to warn their children against climbing inside similar furniture.
They have also advised families to make sure similar toy chests can be opened easily.
Chief executive of the Child Accident Prevention Trust, Katrina Phillips, described the horror as a “terrible tragedy” as she warned parents to be aware, MailOnline reports.
“This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the family. Do take a moment to check how easy it is to open your child’s toy box.”
“Many push open easily but there could be a problem with a heavy wooden lid. And teach your children not to climb onto or into furniture.”
She did add that this kind of accident is very uncommon and she is unaware of any equivalent in the UK.
The girls’ mother Sadie Myers, who lives in Jacksonville with her family, made a heart wrenching statement on social media also warning other mums and dads to be careful.
“Me and Don are having an extremely hard time trying to make sense of this… not many will ever know the feeling of trying to not spend EVERY WAKING SECOND crying in agony.”
“Something I did not know and I’m sure many others don’t know is that most wooden toy chests once closed are AIR TIGHT and also sound proof.”
“I hope knowing this helps in some way, and I hope if you have a toy box like this that you destroy it immediately!”
Her husband Don had put all four of their kids, the twins and their brothers, to bed the night of the horror accident while Sadie was working.
The twins had woken early and decided to play, something they apparently did often as their parents would find them sleeping in random places in the mornings with toys scattered around.
The heartbroken mum said she had previously fastened the chest so they couldn’t open it, but they begged her to open it so they could play.
“I still made sure to have something tied on the latch so that the kids couldn’t lock each other in and so it wouldn’t latch shut if closed.
“Unfortunately that didn’t prevent it from being airtight if closed,” she said.
The older boys have reportedly been staying with family as their devastated parents deal with the loss of their girls.