Q: My son wants to start mowing the lawn, but I’m a bit hesitant. Am I being overly cautious?
A: With summer’s warm weather comes the typical yard work we have all come to expect. But what most of us don’t realize is that the everyday activity of cutting our grass exposes us to significant potential injury. The lawn mower is the most common piece of dangerous equipment in the United States. More than 230,000 injuries a year are attributed to lawn mowers – 20,000 of these are children.
In adults, hand injuries and burns are the most common. These range from tendon and nerve lacerations to multiple digit amputations. Less common in adults but more frequent in children are significant lower extremity injuries. These range from toe amputations to crippling foot and leg injuries. Locally, we have treated children with limb-threatening injuries as young as 3 years old. What is most worrisome is that the numbers are increasing. Teams of specialist surgeons are often required to reconstruct these young children through multiple operations.
The principal point to drive home is that the lawn mower is not a toy. It should not be used by, or to entertain, children. It has been our experience that the most debilitating leg injuries in children have been caused by well-meaning adults holding a child or grandchild while operating a riding mower.