Horrific news out of Georgia. A 2-year-old girl lies in a medically induced coma with burns to 30 percent of her body thanks to playing on a slide with her sister. It wasn't a slide that caused the burns, but what her 4-year-old sister poured on it -- gasoline. Reportedly, the little girl decided to put gasoline on the plastic slide to make it more slippery, and then static electricity sparked a fire, igniting the 2-year-old.
Apparently the girls' 26-year-old father, Christopher Calhoun, was outside with them when he stepped inside for a moment and then heard screams. Reports say he grabbed his burning daughter and ran inside to stick her in the shower and then dialed 911.
Pictures of the scene show the pink gasoline container. It's unclear where it was stored or how the little girl got it so fast and got it into her head to pour it on the slide. But kids will do all kinds of crazy things.
For a parent, you are constantly aware that your kid could do something he or she has no idea is dangerous and in a moment everything could change. It's just constant worry. Think about all those kids we read about who manage to start the family car and drive it into homes or siblings.
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You try to kid-proof and put things out of reach that they might get into -- but, honestly, which one of us would suspect that a toddler might take gasoline and pour it onto a slide? This would most likely have never crossed my mind.
Police are reportedly treating the incident as an accident and not filing any charges. I imagine the dad must feel horrible enough already. There's only so much parents can do. You do the best you can. That's all you can do.
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