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Amanda Butterfield Reporting A toddler remains hospitalized in critical condition, after a tragic accident in her home on Monday night in Syracuse.
"It was terrible. All the cop cars showed up. Everyone was outside feeling sad, hoping everything was okay," a neighbor says.
Parker Stagge climbed into a dresser drawer. The dresser, and the TV on top of it, fell onto the girl. She was flown to Primary Children's Medical Center in extremely critical condition with head injuries.
It happened at home around 5:30 pm. The 22-month-old girl was getting socks out of a dresser for her mother. The baby opened the bottom drawer and stepped in. The dresser, which had a tv on top of it, fell on her.
Det. Sgt. Mark Sessions, Syracuse Police Department: "When the mom heard the loud bang she came in and found the child lying underneath, and pulled her out. But she was unconcious with what appeared to be a skull fracture."
Neighbor: "They're great people. It's sad. We hope everything is okay."
This is the young couple's only child.
Police also say there is a way to prevent accidents like this in the home. We can prevent it, but a quick look at the stats shows too often here in Utah we overlook this way to help our children stay safe.
The Utah Department of Health shows over the last five years, close to 950 children have been killed or injured by some kind of falling furniture.
If you're not real handy, childproofing furniture can seem intimidating. So we went to Home Depot to get a demonstration. There are several options, some as simple as straps with adhesive on the back so you don't need much know-how.
John shows us some others.
"An L-bracket. You attach it to the wall on this side, then you attach it to your piece of furniture or your bookcase. This is a flat angle, attaches to your wall, , easy to use. Different sizes for whatever you have to do."
"What we use a lot of is plumber's tape."
"Screw it in there, wrap it around tight. Cut it off. It's really flexible and good for customizing it to whatever you want to do."
Here's what the bracket should look like, once it's attached to the wall.
Home improvement stores can show you how to do this, so we can avoid a tragedy when a child climbs on or falls against furniture.
