Toddlers & Tantrums

Often times, real life truly is stranger than fiction. This is especially the case
wherever children and safety issues come together. Throughout our research, we
often encounter some truly unique cases that we couldn't make up if we tried. We
write about them in order to promote an expanded safety awareness of the different
happenings of the world at large, and sometimes, in situations not-too-serious, just to bring a good chuckle or two to this otherwise serious topic. So...

One of these stories really happened. The other two were derived from the voices
inside our head. Can you tell which ones real?

A) Policeman uses stun gun on toddler throwing tantrum

B) Toddlers tantrum helps foil robbery attempt

C) Toddlers tantrum triggers full-scale police and rescue operation

While you're contemplating the correct answer, consider this very real safety fact:
Little children put toys in their mouths an average of 20 times an hour, which is
why it's so important to keep the floor and their play areas free of anything that
poses a choking hazard.


Answer:

In California, early in 2008, a young boy in the midst of a tantrum triggered a
full-scale police and rescue operation when he angrily threw his toy teddy bear over a guardrail at the edge of a road in Glendale.

The chucked bear ended up about 80 feet down a steep hillside. So as any mother
would do, the boy’s mom set out to retrieve it. In the process, she was also
overcome by the laws of gravity, and ended up tumbling down the rain-slicked
hill. You might be able to guess what's coming next.

Naturally, Dad made his way to rescue Mom, when he, too, slipped on the hill and
became trapped. "We could not climb up because it was very slippery," reports the
dad. The panic-stricken boy then ran to knock on a neighbor's door, and the good
citizen contacted the authorities.

When the police and firefighters arrived, they had to use ropes and wenches to pull
the parents to safety. Needless to say, the boy learned a lesson he'll never forget. In fact, it was such a remarkable story that we decided to loosely base a children's storybook from it. Look for 'The Boy Who Threw His Bear' on our website
sometime in the future.