Accidental Deaths Of Children: Tragedies Like Nam, Alfredino And Kathy’s Can And Must Be Prevented

Thai Ly Hao Nam, the 10-year-old Vietnamese child who spent four days stranded within a 35-meter-deep well, died on January 5th, 2023. Rescuers unsuccessfully attempted to extract young Nam from a well near a construction site for about 100 hours. According to a recent article written by Snejana Farbero, on New Year’s Eve, the kid was looking for scrap metal near a bridge building site in the Mekong Delta province when he slipped into a concrete conduit that was only 25 centimetres wide and 35 meters deep. The young boy screamed for help frantically as soon as he fell in, and emergency services responded almost immediately. However, by January 2nd, the teams had not heard any signs of life despite pumping oxygen down the shaft to aid the child’s breathing. The rescuers spent days using specialized equipment to attempt to break up the dirt around the pipeline so that it could be lifted using a crane. Unfortunately, they didn’t arrive on time.

Sadly, Nam’s incident is not the only instance of a child inadvertently slipping into a well. Three such tragedies have recently occurred in Italy, with the most well-known involving six-year-old Alfredo Rampi, also known as Alfredino, on June 10th, 1981. Numerous attempts were made to reach the boy, but each time the harness broke, and other attempts to bring him up failed. The kid eventually passed away on June 13th after suffering for almost 60 hours. On the other side of the world, in 1949 the four-and-a-half-year-old Californian Kathryn Anne Fiscus slipped into an abandoned well while playing in a field. Her father, who worked for a nearby water business, had frequently pleaded with the authorities to shut it down. Drills, bulldozers, cranes, trucks, and even 50 spotlights came immediately from Hollywood studios to save her, demonstrating the utmost collaboration that the tragedy sparked. After over 48 hours, Kathy was located roughly 30 meters deep, but by that time, nothing more could be done: she had asphyxiated to death.

Nam, Alfredino and Kathy’s incidents show how accidents involving children and the lack of safety measures may have enormous social repercussions. Accidental deaths and injuries can have a significant impact on families, neighbourhoods, and entire society. Healthcare systems may be burdened by the cost of treating injuries and caring for injured children, particularly in poor nations where resources may be few. As the death of a breadwinner or the requirement to take time off work to care for an injured child can affect a family’s financial security, child accidents can also have economic repercussions. Furthermore, a society’s disregard for children’s safety may be revealed by the lack of necessary measures to prevent child accidents and it fosters a lack of faith in the institutions designed to safeguard them.

Each day, 2300 children die following accidents that could easily be avoided with adequate precautions. This is shown by the “World report on child injury prevention”: child accidents are the most extensive cause of mortality for underage kids. 95% of accidents happen in developing nations, but even in developed countries, where child injuries account for 40% of all child fatalities, the situation is not encouraging. Around 47,000 fatalities and hundreds of thousands of less catastrophic injuries are brought on by falls each year. About 130 children die each day from these injuries, which can be avoided in large part by selecting the proper clothing and toys for kids’ outdoor and indoor activities.

All injury-causing factors are exacerbated in underprivileged regions where kids are more likely to be exposed to dangers. The report on injuries to children emphasizes how prevention can significantly lower incidents. Over the years, there have been far too many tragedies similar to Nam’s. It is always the innocent children who are eager to live and discover the world who pay for the mistakes of adults and their shallowness and indolence. Frequently those very adults are parents, family members and people who are supposed to protect them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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