A Texas toddler was crushed to death by a massive unsecured antique dresser while climbing up it to reach one of her toys, her grief-stricken mother revealed.
Taryn Cochrane said her life was “changed forever” after her 2-year-old daughter Helena was killed when an 80-pound dresser toppled over on her as she climbed its open drawers at their Denton home — about 40 miles outside Dallas — on Jan. 8, she wrote on social media, according to Jam Press.
“It happened so quickly and so silently,” the devastated 21-year-old mom wrote, describing the tragedy as “any parent’s worst nightmare.”
Cochrane explained she had had the dresser in her home for years and never considered it a threat to her young daughter.
“The guilt and shame has all but consumed me, knowing that if I had taken the precautions of anchoring this dresser, my baby would still be here and her sister would still have her best friend,” she wrote.
“It was so unexpected and not something I would’ve ever thought about being a threat, because of how large and heavy that dresser was, as do many other parents.”
Months after Helena’s death, Cochrane said she realized similar accidents happen far too often and is now on a mission to share her family’s story in hopes of urging other parents to secure their furniture.
“I wanted to share my pain in losing my daughter from a mistake I made so that others are more cautious and aware that this very tragedy is so real,” she wrote. “Not only to me, but so many others that are silently struggling in their guilt.”
The heartbroken mother said she decided to share Helena’s story after her “birthday passed and how excruciating the grief was for not only me, but my entire family.”
“It was so intense, it moved me in the direction of ‘How can I prevent this happening to someone else’s child and their family so that no one has to feel the pain, guilt, and grief I feel on a day to day basis?’” Cochrane wrote, according to Jam Press.
“No parent should outlive their babies — especially not to preventable accidents,” she added.
Cochrane urged parents to secure every piece of furniture in their home — especially dressers — when child-proofing, calling it one of the most important steps they can take.
“Anchoring takes only a small amount of time but can make all the difference in the world,” she wrote. “If my story can help even one family avoid this kind of tragedy, then my daughter’s memory is protecting others in a way that truly matters.”
Anchoring heavy furniture — like dressers, bookcases and televisions, among the most common to tip — requires securing them to wall studs using anti-tip straps, brackets or specially designed anchors.
Falling furniture and televisions kill an estimated 20 to 30 children every year in the US and send roughly 14,000 more to emergency rooms annually, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Toddlers between 1 and 3 are the most vulnerable of any age group to suffer a fatal accident as a result.
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