A mom-of-two from Florida has warned other parents against letting kids ‘spin too fast’ on swings after her son was taken to a hospital because his scalp turned red and blood vessels in his eyes burst!
Rebecca Jordan shared how her 10-year-old son was rushed to hospital for a CT scan after complaining that his ‘brain hurt.’ He played in a garden playground when the incident happened.
She wrote on Facebook how blood vessels in her son’s eyes and eyelids had burst from the ‘extreme pressure.’
“Our son loves to spin around, he’s a bit of a thrill seeker (you know how boys can be). Yesterday he was playing with a group of other kids outside running around the yard and on the playground equipment.
“He got on the swing and told the other kids to spin him around (like he does a lot), you know the famous line, “faster, higher, spin me faster”. (Except this time, he held his head out the entire time and he let it go too long. Who knew?).”
Rebecca also explained that her son spun with his head back. The pressure caused the blood to rush to his head and his scalp appeared as if the area was “spray painted red.” He also “passed out for a few minutes” after spinning on the swing for “around one minute.”
“As he spun faster and faster with his head back, the centrifugal force/pressure forced blood to rush to the top of his head causing blood to immediate pool/bruise,” she said.
“Plus the blood vessels in his eyes and eye lids burst from the extreme pressure. They stopped him and as he got off the swing he collapsed.
“Several kids came inside with him to tell us what happened and he said he had trouble breathing and his “brain hurt”. We started checking him out and started noticing what all was wrong.”
Rebecca immediately rushed her son to hospital where he was sent for a CT scan. “We were concerned about possible brain injury so we went to the ER. Keep in mind he never actually hit his head, this was only from the centrifugal force pulling while spinning on the swing.
“The doctors and nurses were puzzled and thought he spray painted his head because they have not seen this type of presentation of blood bruising before.
“They were very quick to examine his head, eyes and inner ears and sent him for a CT. Praise God it came back normal, no internal injuries or brain swelling.”
Fortunately, the child had no “internal injuries or brain swelling.”
She is now warning other parents and guardians to be cautious when letting children play on swings.
“You just don’t think about it when they are just having fun and laughing. But, we just have to know when it’s too fast or going on for too long. You know just like everything else, moderation is key!
“So please let your kids have fun and be kids, but be safe and know there are even limitations to playing in order to keep them safe.”
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