LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) – A 4-year-old southern Indiana boy died after a large a TV fell on him. It's a tragic accident that only encourages parents to make sure their electronics are secure.
On Black Friday, Paul Gibson and his two little ones could not pass up the deal on a 39 inch TV.
"Our TV screen is about to go bad, so we just decided to get a new one," said Gibson.
Gibson said he's heard the horror stories and says his brand new TV will be mounted to the wall, out of reach of his 1-year-old and 4-year-old children.
"It's very important that we make sure he is secure and she is secure and one of the ways we do that is by keeping all Tvs and electronics away them," said Gibson.
A tragedy happened just this week in Evansville. Police say a large TV fell from its stand and landed on a four year old boy, killing him.
Larry Curry with Best Buy on the Outer Loop said it's especially important to make sure your TVs are professionally mounted.
"We've actually had zero incidents in the past six years," said Curry. "The average size TV weighs anywhere from 60 to 100 pounds."
Older box TVs weigh even more than that. Safety experts encourage parents to anchor TVs to the furniture they are sitting on.
Last year in Louisville, Travis and Sarah Durham lived through that nightmare. A 42 inch box TV that was sitting on a chest of drawers fell onto their 4-year-old son, Cole.
WAVE 3 interviewed the couple at Kosair Children's Hospital in January. "I would have thought when I drove here that my child was involved in this freak one in a million accident, until I got here and started talking to people, and realized it is not a one in a million," said Travis Durham.
In fact, research shows this happens to about 22,000 kids a year. Fortunately Cole Durham's story has a happy ending. He made a full recovery.
"It is truly a miracle in a lot of different ways," said Travis Durham.
Best Buy offers a service where they will come out and safely mount your TV for you. If you are using a stand or dresser, safety experts not only encourage you to anchor the TV to the stand, but also anchor the stand to the wall if you have little ones in your home.
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Wall mounts are one way to help protect your family.
Cole in the hospital after a television fell on him.
Televisions on display.
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