‘Tragic accident’ claimed toddler’s life after parents put him down for a nap only to make a horrific discovery hours later in Christchurch, New Zealand

The parents of a three-year-old boy who died in horrific circumstances have called for better safety warnings in the hope of preventing further tragedies.

When the toddler’s parents, who cannot be named, put him to bed for his usual afternoon nap on January 20, they heard him “babbling.”

But a coroner in Christchurch, New Zealand, heard that when the father checked on his son at around 4pm, he was not in bed.

He found the child “in front of the curtain with a cord wrapped around the front of his neck,” coroner Heather McKenzie wrote in her findings.

The father carried the toddler to his mother, who called emergency services and began CPR.

Emergency services arrived just five minutes later, but the boy could not be resuscitated. NZ Herald reported.

“(His) parents described him as their beautiful, cheeky and sweet little friend,” Ms McKenzie said on Monday.

“They are devastated and saddened by the loss of him. They also suffer as they watch their daughter mourn her brother.”

‘They want to prevent the same thing from happening to other parents/families and believe that there should be better safety regulations regarding blind cords.’

The family was at the beach on the morning of the tragedy and after lunch they put the boy to bed.

“The day was just like any other day, nothing was different and (the boy’s) behaviour was normal for him,” Ms McKenzie said.

‘(His father) thinks he closed the blinds and curtains…and the bedroom door was closed. He heard (the child) ‘chattering’ to himself as he usually does.’

The toddler’s bed was not attached to the wall and he would often get up on his own if he woke up before his parents arrived, sometimes hiding behind the curtain between the blinds.

The father told police that the umbilical cord was not wrapped around his son’s entire neck, but only in the front.

“The cord was used to pull the curtain up and down. Most of the time, (the boy’s mother) would remind (the father) to pull the curtain up and wrap it high around the railing,” the coroner said.

“He didn’t think (the boy) had ever played with the cord before. Other than hiding behind the curtains, he was never known to have jumped or played with it.”

Coroner McKenzie said there was nothing unusual in the child’s bedroom.

Although the boy sometimes ‘piled up his pillows to reach into his drawers to get his books’, he had not done so that day.

“It appears to me from the evidence available that (the boy) was playing in or near the hut and the cord became wrapped around his neck and he was unable to free himself,” Ms McKenzie said.

“I don’t know how long he was there before (his father) discovered him. In all the circumstances, I feel (his) death was a tragic accident.

“(The child) was a much loved son and brother. He is greatly missed.”

In Australia, there is a mandatory standard for interior blinds, curtains and window fittings manufactured after 2010. However, in New Zealand there are currently no similar mandatory safety guidelines.

Ms McKenzie said she could not make recommendations that would go beyond those already made by coroner Mary-Anne Borrowdale following the accidental death of a 19-month-old baby from suffocation by a Roman blind cord in 2018.

Mrs Borrowdale said in that case: ‘The family so tragically affected by this death were unaware of the danger posed by the cords on the inner blinds, which are located at the back of the blinds.

“Their custom blinds were delivered without any safety information.”

Ms Borrowdale quoted the co-author of a US study into deaths caused by window cords, Dr Gary Smith, who said: ‘Sending messages is not enough. Designing the problem out of existence, in this case by only producing cordless blinds, is the most effective strategy.’

She also cited advice from the Australian Competition and Consumer (ACCC) Commission, which was previously published In 2014 stricter rules were imposed.

A coroner in Christchurch, New Zealand, heard that when the father checked on his son at about 4pm, he was not in bed (stock photo)

“The ACCC considers that parental education alone does not sufficiently reduce the risk,” the report said.

Ms McKenzie said curtain cords should be treated with the same caution parents would around baths, swimming pools, the ocean, lakes and rivers.

“Incidents involving strangulation by window blinds can be fatal within minutes and can occur silently. In this respect, they are similar to child drownings,” she said.

‘Accessible blind cords should be considered as dangerous to young children as standing water.’