Meghan Agnes Beck
October 23, 2001 - December 18, 2004
She was the second born of a twin set, her older brother arriving 4 minutes before she was born. She arrived feet first, feisty, and ready to make her presence known literally kicking her older brother out of the womb! That was October 23, 2001. One of the happiest days of my life. Their older brother thrilled to have TWO babies, especially a girl baby!
That bright-eyed little girl, our beautiful daughter Meghan, died December 18th, 2004, at the age of 3, from injuries sustained as a result of her dresser falling on top of her in the early morning hours while we slept. We presume she was climbing in the drawers. We did not hear the dresser fall, for it fell on top of her. She did not or could not cry. She died within minutes. Suffocated under the weight of the dresser.
Suddenly I was living every parent’s nightmare, I held my dead baby girl in my arms one sunny Saturday morning in a pediatric trauma ER, just a week before Christmas, and had to say goodbye. I left her body in the emergency room along with a part of me. My heart shattered. All because of something that could have easily been avoided, had we known the dangers. It was the worst day of my life. For a glimpse into that day, read my blog post about it here, I promise it is worth your time.
Tragically, her death was preventable, for if we had secured her dresser to the wall, she would be with us today. A few dollars and about 15 minutes would have saved her life. That's all it takes to safely secure a dresser to the wall. Instead of putting a few holes in our walls and furniture, we forever have one in our hearts that will never heal. Walls can be fixed, broken hearts cannot.
We never thought her dresser, a small, heavy, well-made by a well-known juvenile product manufacturer and a top of the line piece, would tip or fall, let alone kill anyone, we were horribly wrong. She has left us, her twin brother, and her older brother all devastated at her loss. We thought buying furniture that wasn't cheap, and was approved by the JPMA meant it was safe. It does not.
Our home is, and always was, well childproofed. We had other larger pieces of furniture that were secured to the walls, but not her dresser. I did not understand or realize the danger it posed being so small. I may never forgive myself for not making her room and our home safer. The guilt is overwhelming.
Sadly, Meghan is not the first child to die from falling furniture, but we hope that we can, with your help, prevent this tragedy from happening to another child. Since Meghan’s death, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has revised their information and statistics on injury and death due to furniture tip over several times. The numbers are only increasing! We know awareness and prevention are the key to saving lives. We need your help to share this information and make everyone aware.
Watch and share this powerful and brief PSA from the CPSC featuring real-life tip-overs caught by parents unaware of the danger literally right in front of them. Thankfully, none of the children in the video were seriously hurt. You will be shocked at how fast tip-overs happen. Meet 3 moms, including myself, and why we urge you to anchor your furniture here: Real Moms Urge you to Anchor It (produced by the CPSC)
The most recent information from the CPSC, published in their 2020 Tip-over report, notes that someone, nearly always a small child, is injured every 17 minutes when a piece of furniture, a TV, or an appliance falls on them. That's 84 people a day! Approximately every 12-14 days, a child will die from those injuries. We know that furniture alone sends a child to the ER about once every hour! Safe Kids Worldwide published a study in 2012, and noted that every 45 minutes a child is seen in the ER a victim of a fallen TV and a child dies every 3 weeks when a TV falls on them! You can read it here ALL of these injuries and deaths are preventable! You can view an infographic on TV tip-over here.
Since publishing this website, I have heard far too many stories of similar accidents, some from parents whose children also died, and many more stories of near misses, and and I am astounded at how often furniture or televisions tip or falls onto children causing injury or death, even with their parents right in the same room! It is even more shocking how unaware of the dangers parents, health care professionals, and furniture stores and manufacturers are or that even if they know the risks, they think it can't happen to them and do nothing to prevent it. I want to change that.
I've recently joined forces with a group of other bereaved parents who lost children to tip-overs, and am a founding member of Parents Against Tip-Overs. Please visit our page to learn more!
This is a tragedy that could happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, and death can result in mere minutes. You can be right there and be powerless to stop it! I can assure you no parent who has ever lost a child for any reason expected it would happen to them. We certainly didn’t. Please don’t let it happen to yours or anyone else’s child. Securing your furniture is quick, easy, inexpensive, and the life you save may be your own child's or someone you love.
Please help us raise awareness and prevent these accidents from injuring and killing children. Secure your furniture, televisions and appliances to the wall. ALL OF THEM. Don’t think it can’t happen to your child! Share my blog post, the studies referenced here, and ‘like’ our Facebook Page, where I post all sorts of child safety information well beyond the scope of tip-over prevention.
Someone, who was moved by her story, made this brief PSA on YouTube about Meghan. Please share it, too.
Together we can make kids safer!
Thank you!
That bright-eyed little girl, our beautiful daughter Meghan, died December 18th, 2004, at the age of 3, from injuries sustained as a result of her dresser falling on top of her in the early morning hours while we slept. We presume she was climbing in the drawers. We did not hear the dresser fall, for it fell on top of her. She did not or could not cry. She died within minutes. Suffocated under the weight of the dresser.
Suddenly I was living every parent’s nightmare, I held my dead baby girl in my arms one sunny Saturday morning in a pediatric trauma ER, just a week before Christmas, and had to say goodbye. I left her body in the emergency room along with a part of me. My heart shattered. All because of something that could have easily been avoided, had we known the dangers. It was the worst day of my life. For a glimpse into that day, read my blog post about it here, I promise it is worth your time.
Tragically, her death was preventable, for if we had secured her dresser to the wall, she would be with us today. A few dollars and about 15 minutes would have saved her life. That's all it takes to safely secure a dresser to the wall. Instead of putting a few holes in our walls and furniture, we forever have one in our hearts that will never heal. Walls can be fixed, broken hearts cannot.
We never thought her dresser, a small, heavy, well-made by a well-known juvenile product manufacturer and a top of the line piece, would tip or fall, let alone kill anyone, we were horribly wrong. She has left us, her twin brother, and her older brother all devastated at her loss. We thought buying furniture that wasn't cheap, and was approved by the JPMA meant it was safe. It does not.
Our home is, and always was, well childproofed. We had other larger pieces of furniture that were secured to the walls, but not her dresser. I did not understand or realize the danger it posed being so small. I may never forgive myself for not making her room and our home safer. The guilt is overwhelming.
Sadly, Meghan is not the first child to die from falling furniture, but we hope that we can, with your help, prevent this tragedy from happening to another child. Since Meghan’s death, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has revised their information and statistics on injury and death due to furniture tip over several times. The numbers are only increasing! We know awareness and prevention are the key to saving lives. We need your help to share this information and make everyone aware.
Watch and share this powerful and brief PSA from the CPSC featuring real-life tip-overs caught by parents unaware of the danger literally right in front of them. Thankfully, none of the children in the video were seriously hurt. You will be shocked at how fast tip-overs happen. Meet 3 moms, including myself, and why we urge you to anchor your furniture here: Real Moms Urge you to Anchor It (produced by the CPSC)
The most recent information from the CPSC, published in their 2020 Tip-over report, notes that someone, nearly always a small child, is injured every 17 minutes when a piece of furniture, a TV, or an appliance falls on them. That's 84 people a day! Approximately every 12-14 days, a child will die from those injuries. We know that furniture alone sends a child to the ER about once every hour! Safe Kids Worldwide published a study in 2012, and noted that every 45 minutes a child is seen in the ER a victim of a fallen TV and a child dies every 3 weeks when a TV falls on them! You can read it here ALL of these injuries and deaths are preventable! You can view an infographic on TV tip-over here.
Since publishing this website, I have heard far too many stories of similar accidents, some from parents whose children also died, and many more stories of near misses, and and I am astounded at how often furniture or televisions tip or falls onto children causing injury or death, even with their parents right in the same room! It is even more shocking how unaware of the dangers parents, health care professionals, and furniture stores and manufacturers are or that even if they know the risks, they think it can't happen to them and do nothing to prevent it. I want to change that.
I've recently joined forces with a group of other bereaved parents who lost children to tip-overs, and am a founding member of Parents Against Tip-Overs. Please visit our page to learn more!
This is a tragedy that could happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime, and death can result in mere minutes. You can be right there and be powerless to stop it! I can assure you no parent who has ever lost a child for any reason expected it would happen to them. We certainly didn’t. Please don’t let it happen to yours or anyone else’s child. Securing your furniture is quick, easy, inexpensive, and the life you save may be your own child's or someone you love.
Please help us raise awareness and prevent these accidents from injuring and killing children. Secure your furniture, televisions and appliances to the wall. ALL OF THEM. Don’t think it can’t happen to your child! Share my blog post, the studies referenced here, and ‘like’ our Facebook Page, where I post all sorts of child safety information well beyond the scope of tip-over prevention.
Someone, who was moved by her story, made this brief PSA on YouTube about Meghan. Please share it, too.
Together we can make kids safer!
Thank you!